The Greatest ‘Trotters’ in the Globe: Profiling the Harlem Globetrotters (Part 2)
To read Part One of this series, please click
http://www.senore.com/The-Greatest-Trotters-in-the-Globe-Profiling-the-Harlem-Globetrotters-Part-1-a33481:
Nat Clifton
Nathaniel Clifton was the very first African American to sign a contract with the NBA. Clifton was born on the 13th of October, 1922 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was called “Sweetwater” because of his unfaltering love
of soda pop. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he became a star high school basketball and baseball player. After serving with the US Army in Europe for three years during World War Two, Clifton started playing for the New York Rens, an all-black pro basketball
team that travelled all over the United States. In 1948, Clifton joined the Harlem Globetrotters, and played with them for two years.
He made his debut in the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks, playing a critical role in getting the Knicks to their first finals. He played in the NBA for eight seasons, averaging 10 points and nine rebounds in one game. Clifton
was named in the NBA All-Star team in 1957. He retired from basketball in 1962, at the ripe age of 40. Left with no means of income, he became a taxi driver to support his family. Nathaniel Clifton died in his cab on August 31, 1990.
Marques Haynes
Marques Haynes, one of the fastest dribblers the world has ever seen (reported to manage up to six dribbles per second), was born on October 3rd, 1926 in Sand Spring, Oklahoma. In 1941, he led his high school team to
the National Invitational Interscholastic Basketball Tournament Championship, which was especially created for “black” high schools. After his college years, Haynes tried out for the Harlem Globetrotters, and made the team. He was placed into the Kansas City
Stars, basically a “training” team where new recruits for the Trotters could get the hang of the playing style and methods. He only played for three months before his incredible dribbling caught the eye of Abe Saperstein (owner of the Globetrotters), who immediately
transferred Haynes to the proper Globetrotter team. He played for the Trotters for seven years in his first round in 1947-1953, then seven more years from 1972-1979. Haynes left the Globetrotters for good in 1953 over a contract disagreement, and founded his
own “barnstorming” team, which he called the “Harlem Magicians”. Later on, Haynes joined the Globetrotters for the third time, as a player/coach, while still playing for the Harlem Wizards. He retired from basketball in 1992 after playing basketball for 46
years. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas.
Meadow Lemon
Meadowlark Lemon was a basketball player, actor and minister. He was known as the “Clown Prince” for 22 years due to his membership in the Harlem Globetrotters. He played over 16,000 games for the team and was inducted in the Basketball
Hall of Fame in 2003.
Lemon was born on April 25, 1932 in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was chosen by the Globetrotters in 1955. After leaving the Trotters in 1980, he started his own imitation Globetrotter team, which he called the “Bucketeers”. He
moved on to the Shooting Stars in 1984 and played with them till 1987. In 1988, Lemon moved to his own “Meadowlark Lemon’s Harlem All Stars” team (which he still plays for today). Even though Lemon had his own team, he came back to the Globetrotters in 1994,
managing to play another 50 games. Lemon is now a popular cultural icon as well as a basketball star. There are references to him in cartoons such as “The Cleveland Show” in which there was a dog by his name, and in “Pinky and the Brain”, where Brain directs
a movie featuring Lemon and himself.
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