The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 123 countries and territories. The team's signature song is Brother Bones' whistled version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". Their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named Globie. The team plays over 450 live events worldwide each year. The team is currently owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. The executive offices for the team are located in suburban Atlanta.
Vernon Earl Monroe is an American retired professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams have retired Monroe's number. Due to his on-court success and flashy style-of-play, Monroe was given the nicknames "Black Jesus" and "Earl the Pearl". Monroe was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.
The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big Five and as the Rens, was an all-black professional basketball team established February 13, 1923, by Robert "Bob" Douglas in agreement with the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom. The Casino and Ballroom at 138th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem was an entertainment complex including a ballroom that served as the Big Five's home court. Following each game, a dance took place. The success of the Rens shifted the focus of black basketball from amateur teams to professional teams. Initially, the Rens played mostly in Harlem, but by the end of the 1920s, as attendance began to dwindle, the team could be found more often playing on the road, barnstorming across the country out of necessity. The Renaissance are also the topic of the 2011 documentary On the Shoulders of Giants.
Abraham Michael Saperstein was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, primarily before those sports were racially integrated.
Meadow Lemon III known professionally as Meadowlark Lemon, was an American basketball player, actor, and Christian minister. From 1994, he served Meadowlark Lemon Ministries in Scottsdale, Arizona. For 22 years, he was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters and was a 2003 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Cornelius "Connie" Lance Hawkins was an American basketball player in the American Basketball League (ABL), American Basketball Association(ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), Harlem Globetrotters, and Harlem Wizards, as well as being a New York City playground legend. It was on the New York City courts that he earned his nickname, The Hawk. Hawkins was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
Reece "Goose" Tatum was an African American baseball and basketball player. In 1942, he was signed to the Harlem Globetrotters and had an 11-year career with the team. He later formed his own team known as the Harlem Magicians with former Globetrotters player Marques Haynes. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. Tatum's number 50 is retired by the Globetrotters.
Roderick James "Jess" McMahon Sr. was an American professional wrestling and professional boxing promoter, and the patriarch of the McMahon family. He founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation with Toots Mondt in 1952. McMahon's son, Vincent, later took over and founded the World Wide Wrestling Federation.
Oliver J. Miller is an American former professional basketball player who played 7 seasons in the NBA.
Marques Haynes was an American professional basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters, notable for his remarkable ability to dribble the ball and keep it away from defenders. According to the 1988 film Harlem Globetrotters: Six Decades of Magic, Haynes could dribble the ball as many as 348 times a minute.
John Isaacs was an African-American professional basketball player. Born in Panama but raised in New York City, he was a member of the New York Renaissance, the Washington Bears, and various other teams.
Ernest Grunfeld is an American former professional basketball player and former general manager of the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. In college at the University of Tennessee, he set a new record as the school's all-time leading scorer. He won gold medals with Team USA at the 1975 Pan American Games and the 1976 Summer Olympics. He began his professional career as a player with the Milwaukee Bucks. He served as General Manager of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 1999, and as the Bucks General Manager from 1999 to 2003, and then became the president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2019.
Samuel Lee Worthen is an American former NBA player who currently is touring as the coach of the Washington Generals, the team that perennially loses to the Harlem Globetrotters. He was well known for his play at the Rucker Park Tournament.
Wayne Keon Turner is a retired American professional basketball player. He played high school basketball at Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, Massachusetts. As a star point guard for the Kentucky Wildcats during a four-year period in which they won two national titles and lost in the championship game once (1997). He set the NCAA record for games played with 151 games in his four-year Kentucky Wildcats career.
Ronnie Goodall Cavenall is an American retired basketball player.
The 2001–02 NBA season was the Wizards' 41st season in the National Basketball Association. After finishing 19–63 the previous season, the Wizards won the Draft Lottery and selected high school star Kwame Brown with the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft. This season marked the return of All-Star guard Michael Jordan, who came out of his retirement to play for the Wizards. The team also signed free agent Tyronn Lue, who previously won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kevin "Special K" Daley is a Panamanian former basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotters. He also played on the Panama national team.
Johnathan Hildred Wall Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Wall was chosen with the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft by the Wizards after playing one year of college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. He plays the point guard position and is a five-time NBA All-Star. He was named to his first All-NBA Team in 2017.
Milton Leon Banks, was an American basketball player best known for his seasons spent touring with the Harlem Globetrotters. He started his basketball career at Cal-Poly in 1979, he was a member of several 3x3 (basketball), or Hoop-it-up championship teams, Dino Smiley's Drew League, and was named to the Venice Beach's basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 along the likes of Kobe Bryant.
