Harlem Globetrotters Learn More A++++ Totally a great show from start to finish. Don't let a show go by without seeing it. A++++ Fan in El Paso, TX Dream Come True I grew up watching the Harlem Globetrotters on tv, and I dreamed of the day when I could see them in person. That childhood dream was fulfilled in Hidalgo, Texas. It was my Christmas gift to my family and myself. It also created a memory my family will cherish for a long time. Fan in Hidalgo, TX Great Family Entertainment for all ages Took my 3 teenage kids to see this event... I would definitely recommend this event to all families. The event engages the audience. Good music is played and if you like basketball, you'll enjoy this event. Fan in Peoria, IL Exciting and hilarious! This is a great show for anyone that is a fan of basketball. The Globetrotters are legendary and this show lived up to the hype. Awesome time! Fan in Moline, IL Harlem Globetrotters | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE DETROIT PISTONS The Harlem Globetrotters.

HarlemGlobetrotters.com For nearly 80 years, the Harlem Globetrotters have entertained millions of fans around the world with their unique mix of basketball skill and humor. They have played the world over, in front of popes and kings. They have made thousands of television appearances. We all know the names “Meadowlark” Lemon and “Curley” Neal and everyone has heard the Globetrotters theme music “Sweet Georgia Brown.” But who are the Globetrotters and where did they come from? In celebration of Black History Month, we will try to answer some of your questions about the world’s winningest professional sports team. Did you know that the Globetrotters actually started in Chicago and were formed from the Wendell Phillips High School? The team played in the Negro American Legion League under the name Giles Post. In 1927, the team turned professional as the Savoy Five. Later that year, promoter Abe Saperstein purchased the team and renamed them the “Saperstein’s New York Globetrotters.” In 1930, Saperstein again changed their name to the Harlem New York Globetrotters.

Did you know that the team has never had any affiliation with Harlem, New York? Their original owner, Abe Saperstein wanted to give the impression that the team of all-black players represented the mostly black borough. Saperstein was also so infatuated with New York that he rented an office in the Empire State Building just so he could have a New York address. Did you know that in the early days of the team, they had only five players, forcing Saperstein to wear a uniform under his suit in case of an injury? The team even traveled in Saperstein’s Ford Model “T”. Did you know that the Globetrotters made their Detroit debut on Thanksgiving 1932? It was the first time the team had played in a major city. Did you know that the team’s 1,000th game was played in Iron Mountain, MI? Harlem Globetrotters (1940) HarlemGlobetrotters.com Did you know that the clowning around on the court did not begin until 1939? With the Globetrotters leading the game 112-5, the players began to amuse the crowd with their antics.

Saperstein gave the team permission to add more clowning around…but only when the game was safely in hand. It was during this game that Inman Jackson created the high-post pivot position still used by teams in today’s game. Did you know that Abe Saperstein also owned the Negro League’s Birmingham Black Barons? The Black Barons were the baseball antithesis of the Globetrotters. There was no hot-dogging or goofing around on the baseball diamond. Unlike other teams in the Negro Leagues, the Black Barons were about tough, hard-nosed baseball. Saperstein was one of the most popular men in the league, always managing to fill the stands and handsomely pay his players on time. Harlem Globetrotters (1942) HarlemGlobetrotters.com Did you know that the Globetrotters’ color barrier was broken in 1942? Bob Karstens from Dubuque, Iowa becomes the first Caucasian player under contract with the team. Original owner Abe Saperstein was the first white player to play with the team, but Karstens was the first under contract.

Did you know that the Globetrotters played in the original “Game of the Century?” On February 20, 1948, the Globetrotters defeated George Mikan’s World Champion Minneapolis Lakers 61-59 on Ermer Robinson’s last second shot. The Globetrotters also defeated the Lakers in 1949. Did you know that the Globetrotters played in front of the largest and smallest crowds in their history in 1951? On August 21, they played in front of 75,000 in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. The game was highlighted by a 15-minute standing ovation when 1936 Olympian Jesse Owens was announced as a special guest of the team. Later that year, the team played in front of Pope Pius XII and only Pope Pius XII at his summer home in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Did you know that Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein had a hand in creating teams like the New York Nationals and the Washington Generals, the perennial Globetrotters opponents?

Finding it more and more difficult to find quality competition, Saperstein contacted basketball expert Louis “Red” Klotz to develop a team to oppose the Globetrotters. Klotz developed teams that would become known as the Washington Generals, Boston Shamrocks, Baltimore Rockets, New York Nationals, Atlantic City Seagulls, and the New Jersey Reds. Did you know that the Globetrotters were actually the first sports attraction to play under the lights at Wrigley Field? In 1954, Saperstein arranged for portable lights to be brought in and used for a night game. Did you know that in 1954, battling factions in Peru halted their civil war for four days so the Globetrotters could play in Peru? When the team’s plane left the country, the war resumed. Did you know that in 1968, the Harlem Globetrotters made their Harlem debut? Forty-one years after making their debut in Hinckley, IL, the team finally played in Harlem.

Mannie Jackson HarlemGlobetrotters.com Did you know that in 1993, Mannie Jackson became the first African-American to own a sports/ entertainment organization with his purchase of the Globetrotters? Did you know that The Harlem Globetrotters cartoon was the first Saturday morning cartoon to feature African-American characters? The show ran on CBS from September 1970 through May 1973. The Globetrotters have appeared in several other television shows and movies, including The Go-Go- Globetrotters, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, The Super Globetrotters, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, and Futurama. Did you know that five Pistons have played for the Globetrotters? Cedric Ceballos, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, Walter Dukes, Tremaine Fowlkes, and Oliver Miller have all donned the red, white, and blue of both the Pistons and Globetrotters. Did you know that the Globetrotters have had 36 players from Michigan high schools or colleges?

Sixteen players have gone straight from Michigan high schools to the Globetrotters, while 20 Globetrotters played in colleges in Michigan. Included in those lists are four players from Miller H.S., three each from Cass Tech and Northern H.S. Seven players have matriculated from Michigan State, four players from Detroit Mercy, and four from Wayne State University. Did you know that the Globetrotters have played in and won more games than any other professional sports team? The club has played in over 22,500 games. The team is on pace to win its 22,000th game on February 26 in Hartford. Coincidentally, they have never lost to the New York Generals in over 8,000 games. Ticket Center Harlem Globetrotters - YouTube Harlem Globetrotters The next video is starting stop The World Famous Harlem Globetrotters 374,754 views 1 year ago This year’s show promises more incredible ball handling, trick shots, and side-splitting comedy than ever before. The Globetrotters’ arch rivals, the Washington Generals, are desperate for a win.

Sources tell us they have a cunning new plan of attack and will stop at nothing to come out on top at the end of the game… The Globetrotters love seeing smiling faces around the arena, smiles that remain way beyond the final buzzer. Your family's happiness is the energy that powers the team, so Globetrotter stars stay on court for autographs, photographs and high fives with our fans after the game. The Globetrotters can’t wait to share our all-new show with you and create a new favorite family memory that will last forever. ▶ SUBSCRIBE for Globetrotter Action all year round: ▶ Follow the Globetrotters 24/7 on social media: Harlem Globetrotters, Chicago's - WTTW Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island Go behind the scenes of the movie "The Harlem Globetrotters," courtesy of Bob (Gilligan) Denver. Here are some books that can provide more information about the history of the Harlem Globetrotters and early African-American basketball pioneers: Sky Kings: Black Pioneers of Professional Basketball by Bijan C.

Bayne, African-American Experience, Franklin Watts, A Division of Grolier Publishing, 1967 Harlem Globetrotters by George Vecsey, Scholastic Book Services, 1970 The Harlem Globetrotters by Josh Wilker, Chelsea House Publishers, 1997 Elevating the Game: Black Men & Basketball by Nelson George, University of Nebraska Press, 1992 Glory Bound: Black Athletes in White America by David K. Wiggins, Syracuse University Press, 1997 American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports by Benjamin G. Rader, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1996, 1990, 1983 Great Jews in Sports by Robert Slater, Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 2000 The Pro Basketball Encyclopedia, edited by Zander Hollander, MacMillan, 1978 Rewriting History: The Birth of the Globetrotters By program producer Jay T. Smith Let me begin by letting you in on an important piece of information. I am not a historian; I'm a television producer.

But in putting together our Chicago Stories program about the Harlem Globetrotters, I knew part of our story would focus on the organization's origins. So my fledgling work as a historian began. The Globetrotters history seemed straightforward. At least two books about the Globetrotters (Harlem Globetrotters by George Vecsey, 1970, and The Harlem Globetrotters by Josh Wilker, 1997) discussed the team's play at Chicago's Savoy Ballroom in 1926. Numerous other publications, including many years worth of Globetrotter "official" game programs, the team's official website, and at least two television documentaries told the same story. It goes like this: The Globetrotters played at the Savoy Ballroom in 1926, a ploy by Savoy management to increase attendance. The scheme didn't help, and the games were soon dropped. The team then decided to hit the road, and their first "road game" was on January 7, 1927 in Hinckley, Illinois, 50 miles west of Chicago.

So I went to the library to try and find some old newspaper articles about the Savoy Big Five, and their games in 1926. I didn't find any. In fact, I found that the sequence of events, as reported by dozens of sources, could not have happened. Chicago's Savoy Ballroom didn't open for business until November 23, 1927, more than 11 months after the team supposedly finished their run at the Savoy. How do we know this? In talking to a number of actual historians, I was told that the best place to get historical information, especially about dates, is from newspaper articles of the day. If you find an old newspaper that reports that the Savoy Ballroom opened on November 23, 1927, (which the Chicago Defender does in its November 26, 1927 edition), it is unlikely that they missed the facts by more than a year.

Here's part of what that Defender article says: "The thousands of fashionably dressed patrons hurrying in the rain from their cars Wednesday evening to attend the grand opening of the Savoy ballroom were met with such a glow of warmth and beauty as they stepped into the lobby, as was almost bewildering." On December 31, 1927, the Defender ran a short piece, promoting the Savoy Big Five's first games: "Basketball fans will be given a real treat next week when the fast Howard University quintet meets the Savoy Bear Cats [this is the only reference to the team as the Bear Cats; in the post-game article, they are called the Savoy Big Five] in a two game series at the Savoy ballroom, 47th St. and South Parkway. The contests have been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 3 and 4. There are a number of reasons why a record crowd is expected to see the game. First, there will be dancing after the game and second, it will be the first time that a Howard University basketball team has invaded Chicago. The Savoy team is composed of such players as Ramsey, formerly of Wendell Phillips, and Lester Johnson, formerly of Howard University.

"The Savoy team was formerly known as the American Legion Big Five." The next week, the January 7, 1928 issue of the Defender talks about the Savoy team's two victories over Howard: "...The Savoy quintet, playing its first game, flashed into the lead at the outset and was never headed." So, based on this information from the Chicago Defender, we can be fairly certain that the Savoy Big Five did not play at the Savoy Ballroom in 1926. In fact, it seems that they did not play at the Savoy until nearly a full year after they played their first game in Hinckley, Illinois. But did they actually play a game on January 7, 1927 in Hinckley, as all prevailing sources site? This would prove to be a much more difficult task to sort out. As I mentioned, I am not a historian.

In fact, the complicated and convoluted history I was finding about the Globetrotters nascent days would be very difficult to make clear in a television documentary, especially one that couldn't devote much more than a minute to the issues, given the 75-plus years of history that needed be covered in less than 30 minutes. Though excited about being able to correct the historical record, (indeed one that is wrong in so many sources), making the story clear on television would be very difficult. The task was so daunting, in fact, that on our television program, we simply state as fact that the Globetrotters played in Hinckley on January 7, 1927, and that they played at the Savoy in 1928. There's no bragging about correcting the historical record; that would take too long and be too confusing (and too self-serving). So, back now to trying to pin down that game in Hinckley. You see that the game was mentioned in our television program as fact. That's because it was cited so many times in the historical record, and contrary to the opening of the Savoy, there is no neat way to dispute it.

Here are the facts we found to lead us to believe that it is at least possible that the team (then known as the Giles Post American Legion team) played in Hinckley on January 7, 1927. First of all, there is an ad in the Hinckley Review newspaper of January 6, 1927. The ad promotes a dance on Friday night, January 7, with "Music by the White Ivories 5-piece orchestra." Below, there is a promotion for "Basket Ball---Friday January 7, Sandwich H.S. vs. Hinckley H.S. --- 2 games, 7:30p.m." Giving the most generous benefit-of-the-doubt, the citation of "2 games" could very well mean that there was one game between the Sandwich High School team against the Hinckley High School team and a second game between undisclosed combatants. Those teams certainly could have been the "future Globetrotters" against the Hinckley Merchants (the team often cited as the Globetrotters first opponent). So where exactly was the Giles team in January of 1927?

The Chicago Defender reported the following in their January 15, 1927 issue: "After a successful tour of the state of Wisconsin, where they hung up an enviable record, the American Legion Giles post No. 87 basket tossers have returned home to engage in several games before starting on the road again. "The team is composed of Thomas Brookins and Randolph Ramsey, former Wendell Phillips high school stars; "Big" Fisher, Lester Johnson, All-American guard from Howard University; Joe Lillard of the University of Iowa and Troutman, formerly of Hyde Park High School." So, this establishes that the team was, in fact, on the road in early January of 1927. Their "successful tour" of Wisconsin certainly could have started with a jaunt to Hinckley before traveling north of the Illinois border. Can I prove that the Giles Post American Legion team (soon to be the Savoy Big Five, soon to be the Harlem Globetrotters) played in Hinckley, Illinois on January 7, 1927? No, I can't. But unlike the references to the Savoy Big Five playing in 1926, I can't disprove it either.

So here is the history, as rewritten by Chicago Stories, much of which is presented in our television program: Globetrotter founder Abe Saperstein graduated Lake View High School in 1920. He went to the University of Illinois for a very short time, and in late 1920 or early 1921 began working for the Chicago Park District. He took on a variety of jobs, everything from tree trimmer to athletic director. He coached the Welles Park basketball team in the Lake View neighborhood. A group composed mainly of former Wendell Phillips High School basketball players formed a semi-pro basketball team, and played under the banner of the South Side Giles Post of the American Legion. We know they were playing in late 1926, though they may have been together earlier than that. Their promoter and coach was a man named Dick Hudson, who was a former University of Minnesota sports star and a former professional football player. Exactly how Abe Saperstein and the team got together is open for debate. Some say the team was doing poorly and asked him to coach. Others say they needed a white man to book games around the Midwest.

In any case, Saperstein likely joined them in late 1926, the group now ready to hit the road and try to make a living as barnstorming basketball pros. On January 7, 1927, Saperstein and his team piled into Abe's jalopy. They were ready for their first road trip. For their first game they drove 50 miles west to the small town of Hinckley, Illinois, and took on the Hinckley Merchants team. Most written histories about the Globetrotters claim that Saperstein's team won that first game. But that's not how former Hinckley resident Marvel Loring remembers it. She was at that first game. "Of course, Hinckley won that first game, 43 to 34," she recalls. In any case, the team split $75 in Hinckley. It was much more than they would make most nights, often satisfied if they could afford a sandwich on the way to the next town. The team would play anywhere it could find a willing opponent and a paying crowd; not an easy combination to put together in those days.

On January 3, 1928, the Giles team began play at the newly constructed Savoy Ballroom on Chicago's South Side. They took a new name, the "Savoy Big Five." The Savoy was an upper-middle class Mecca for black entertainment. Stars including Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington graced the stage. Club management hired the basketball team as an added attraction. In the spring of 1928, after a dispute over money, Saperstein and some of the players left the Savoy and went back to barnstorming. Some of this jibes with the Globetrotters "official" history, some of it does not. We only revised their history when we were fairly certain we had information to directly contradict the "official" story. When we couldn't prove the story wrong, we went with the widely reported version. So in the end, does it really matter? Is it important that scores of sources say that the Harlem Globetrotters started play in 1926 as the Savoy Big Five when, in fact, there was no "Savoy" until late 1927? I guess that's up to the individual reader of history.

For our program, I simply stumbled upon this information while looking for some newspaper articles about the Savoy Big Five. At some point, either by mistake or for some other unknown reason, the story of the origins of the Harlem Globetrotters was told incorrectly. Then it was repeated and repeated until, as the newspaperman in John Ford's classic western "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" said, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." All we hope to do here is to get the facts straight. About the Program Producer Jay Smith, a life-long Chicago-area resident, has been with WTTW since 1989. He spent 8 years as a producer on the Chicago Tonight program, as well as 6 years producing Chicago Week in Review. He then moved on to produce WTTW's national PBS series HandyMa'am with Beverly DeJulio, which will begin production for its fifth season late this summer. In the meantime, he is back producing programs for Chicago Tonight. Smith is the recipient of four Chicago Emmy Awards, a Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club and recognition from the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association.

"Chicago's Harlem Globetrotters" is Smith's first writing and producing assignment for the Chicago Stories series. Your $40 Gift Membership will include: A one-year subscription to the Guide. The WTTW11 Card – your ticket to a variety of members only discounts. The great feeling of a gift that keeps giving. Much more! Harlem Globetrotters Tickets | Event Dates & Schedule | Ticketmaster.com See More The world famous Harlem Globetrotters, featuring some of the most electrifying athletes on the planet, will bring their spectacular show to a city near you during their 2017 World Tour. The famed team will feature a star-studded roster that includes Big Easy Lofton, Ant Atkinson, Hi-Lite Bruton, Thunder Law, Bull Bullard and Cheese Chisholm – plus female stars TNT Lister and Ace Jackson* – the Globetrotters’ one-of-a-kind show is unrivaled in the world of family entertainment. Every game will showcase incredible ball handling wizardry, rim-rattling dunks, trick shots, hilarious comedy and unequaled fan interaction. You won't want your family to miss it – buy your tickets today!

*Rosters will vary in each city and are subject to change. The Harlem Globetrotters Tickets - All Tour Dates Why Choose etc? Inventory ETC is a resale marketplace, not a box office or a venue. We have tickets to thousands of events all over the world. If you need it, we've got it. Our 200% Guarantee Read guarantee Pricing We sell tickets at market value. Prices may be above or below face value. So look around and you'll be able to find lots of great deals here. Experience ETC has been selling tickets since 2005. We provided tickets to more than a million customers throughout the world. Keep in touch! Useful Info The Globetrotters preliminary formation as a competitive group of athletes evolved from the south side of Chicago in the 1920’s. From the original group of mostly Wendell Phillips High School students and basketball enthusiasts of the surrounding area, they were first introduced as the Chicago Globetrotters. Shortly afterwards the team relocated to what was then the hub of African-American culture, a portion of the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan.

The team adopted Harlem as their home base, and was then officially referred to as the New York Harlem Globetrotters. An original true contender in the competitive (pre-National Basketball Association) national basketball scene, the Globetrotters participated and won the 1940 World Professional Basketball Tournament. The team became somewhat shadowed by the 1946 birth of the NBA. They began to act creatively, slowly working in comic, juggling, and skilled coordination and handling routines into their performances. It was from there that they moved away from competitive basketball for a sustained period of time and aired more on the side of exhibition and entertainment, featuring a combination of comedy and theater with remarkable athleticism, which has become the backbone of the professional team over their historical path through almost a century of competition and entertainment. The team ventured back to competitive basketball in the early 1990’s but continued to play as an exhibition team as well. They have played well over 20,000 games in over one hundred countries over the course of their career and continue to do so today.

A Statistical Appreciation of the Washington Generals And Harlem Globetrotters | FiveThirtyEight A Statistical Appreciation of the Washington Generals And Harlem Globetrotters Jul 21, 2014 at 8:26 PM A Statistical Appreciation of the Washington Generals And Harlem Globetrotters Sarge Johnson of the Harlem Globetrotters does a flip during a game against the Washington Generals at the Verizon Center in Washington in 2011. Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images Red Klotz, the founder and longtime coach of the Washington Generals, the Harlem Globetrotters’ perpetually feeble opponents, died at age 93 last week (I highly recommend Joe Posnanski’s remembrance ). Klotz’s all-time record as a head coach of the Generals and their namesakes was something like six wins and 14,000 losses — they lost 99.96 percent of the time. How exactly did the Generals lose so consistently? How much of it was their conceding games on purpose, as opposed to simply being really bad at basketball? More Sports Let’s first get a sense for how good the Globetrotters were.

How have they performed in competitive games. Wait, the Globetrotters sometimes played serious basketball? Yes — from 2000 to 2003 they played a series of games against NCAA teams. (The NCAA banned the practice in 2004 .) News accounts of these games insist that they were taken seriously by both the Globetrotters and their NCAA opponents. As best as I can tell — statistical records for anything involving the Globetrotters are sketchy — they went 13-9 in games against Division I opponents while winning by an average of about five points per game. This is reasonably impressive. As a barnstorming team, all of the Globetrotters’ games were played on the road, and some of their opponents were pretty good: Michigan State, Syracuse, Connecticut and so on. We can come to an estimate of the Globetrotters’ strength by looking up the SRS rating of their college opponents. SRS (Simple Rating System) is a Sports-Reference.com invention which accounts for a team’s margin of victory and strength of schedule. A team’s SRS rating represents how much it would outscore (or be outscored by) an average opponent from its league.

Take one of the Globetrotters’ opponents from 2001, the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes had an SRS rating of about +12 that season, which implies they’d beat an average Division I team by a dozen points. But the Globetrotters beat Iowa by three points. Furthermore, the game was on the road, and home-court advantage is worth about four points in college basketball. So to get an SRS rating for the Globetrotters, we start with Iowa’s rating of +12, then add three points for the Globetrotters’ margin of victory, and four more since the Globetrotters were playing on the road. That gets us to an implied SRS of +19 for the Globetrotters. We can repeat this process for all the games the Globetrotters played against Division I opponents and then average the result. (There were also some inglorious moments, like when the Globetrotters lost to Central Connecticut State.) The Globetrotters come out with an SRS of about +17 based on our sample.

That’s pretty good — it’s similar to the SRS rating that Syracuse, Ohio State, Baylor, Wichita State and the national champion Connecticut Huskies had last season. If they entered the NCAA tournament, the Globetrotters would deserve to be slotted in as something like a No. 4 or 5 seed. Let’s return to the case of the Generals. In Posnanski’s accounting, the Generals usually played straight up on offense. And they played straight up on defense about 40 percent of the time. The other 60 percent of the time, when the Globetrotters were in one of their “reams” (trick-play routines), the Generals’ job was to play the stooge and ensure the Globetrotters looked good. Here’s how this might translate in terms of advanced stats: We know that when playing straight-up basketball, the Globetrotters are equivalent to a No. 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Per Ken Pomeroy’s data, a team like that would expect to score about 1.13 points per possession against an average NCAA opponent and allow 0.97 points per possession.

But the Generals are probably slightly worse than an average NCAA team; most of their current roster either played for middling Division I schools or didn’t play in Division I at all. So let’s tweak the Globetrotters’ projected offense up slightly to 1.15 points scored per possession, and their defense to 0.95 points allowed per possession in straight-up play against the Generals. Let’s guess that Globetrotters games feature an average of 55 possessions per team, lower than the rate of about 65 possessions per team for an average NCAA game. From what I can tell, Globetrotters games generally last 40 minutes — the same as in college basketball. But team also plays without a shot clock, and its routines can last for minutes at a time (while violating all other sorts of basketball rules). Based on these assumptions, if the Globetrotters and Generals played straight-up basketball, the Globetrotters would win by an average score of 63-52.

(You can get to these numbers by multiplying each team’s points per possession by 55 possessions per game.) This would translate into their beating the Generals 94 percent of the time by basketball’s Pythagorean formula . Had the Generals played to win on every possession, Klotz would have finished with a career record of about 840 and 12,166. That’s … not great. But it gives Klotz about 834 more wins. As a gut check on this back-of-the-envelope calculation, let’s account for what happens when the Globetrotters employ a trick play, as they did 60 percent of the time in Posnanski’s estimation. Let’s assume that their scoring efficiency in these cases is two points per possession, equivalent to scoring a two-point field goal every time down the court. In practice, the Globetrotters no doubt miss some baskets, even when the Generals are laying down to them. But they could also boost their scoring efficiency through 3-pointers (and in the Globetrotters’ case, 4-pointers !) and offensive rebounds.

Scoring 1.15 points per possession 40 percent of the time (when playing straight up) and two points per possession 60 percent of the time (in trick-play mode) yields an overall average of 1.66 points per possession. In a 50-possession game, that would make the average score 91-52 in favor of the Globetrotters. That implies the Globetrotters would beat the Generals 99.96 percent of the time per the Pythagorean formula — exactly their historical winning percentage against them. Nate Silver is the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight. @natesilver538 Harlem Globetrotters play their first game - Jan 07, 1927 - HISTORY.com Harlem Globetrotters play their first game Share this: Harlem Globetrotters play their first game Author Harlem Globetrotters play their first game URL Publisher A+E Networks On January 7, 1927, the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team travels 48 miles west from Chicago to play their first game in Hinckley, Illinois.

The Globetrotters were the creation of Abe Saperstein of Chicago, who took over coaching duties for a team of African-American players originally known as the Savoy Big Five (after the famous Chicago ballroom where they played their early games). At a time when only whites were allowed to play on professional basketball teams, Saperstein decided to promote his new team’s racial makeup by naming them after Harlem, the famous African-American neighborhood of New York City. The son of a tailor, Saperstein sewed their red, white and blue uniforms (emblazoned with the words “New York”) himself. The lineup in that first game, for which the Globetrotters were paid $75, was Walter “Toots” Wright, Byron “Fat” Long, Willis “Kid” Oliver, Andy Washington and Al “Runt” Pullins. The Globetrotters won 101 out of 117 games that first season and introduced many Midwestern audiences to a game they had not seen played before. As owner, coach, manager, publicist and sometimes even substitute player, Saperstein worked overtime to book games for his team.

By 1936, they had played more than 1,000 games and appeared in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Washington and North and South Dakota. (The Globetrotters didn’t actually play a game in Harlem until the late 1960s.) Their first national championship appearance came in 1939, when the Globetrotters lost to the New York Renaissance. That same year, the team began to add the silly antics they later became known for, including ball handling tricks and on-court comedic routines. The crowds loved it, and Saperstein told his team to keep up the clowning around, but only when they had achieved a solid lead. In 1948, the Globetrotters earned a new measure of respect by beating the Minneapolis Lakers of the newly established National Basketball Association (NBA). Two years later, the NBA lifted its “whites only” ban and began to draft black players, forcing Saperstein to compete for his talent.

By this time, the Globetrotters were actively touring on the international circuit, playing to audiences in post-war Berlin, Eastern Europe and Russia, among other places; they even performed once for Pope Pius XII in Rome. Some of the Globetrotters who went on to become NBA stars include Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins and Nat Clifton. After Saperstein’s death in 1966, the team was sold to a group of Chicago businessmen for $3.7 million; they later sold it to Metro Media for $11 million. Reaching the height of their fame in the 1970s, the Globetrotters began to lose fans during the next decade, after the departure of such longtime stars as Meadowlark Lemmon. In 1985, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard became the first female Globetrotter. Over the years, the Harlem Globetrotters have played in more than 115 countries in front of 120 million fans. They have been the subject of two feature films and numerous television shows, including two animated series in the 1970s.

In honor of their entertainment value, the team was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and made the subject of a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute. Their pioneering history and considerable athletic skill over the years was honored in 2002, when they were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. More on This Topic Why On Earth Do The Harlem Globetrotters Have A Draft? Why On Earth Do The Harlem Globetrotters Have A Draft? Here's the press release from the Globetrotters: Advertisement Brittney Griner, one of the most decorated players in the history of women’s basketball, was among five athletes selected today in the seventh annual player draft of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. Joining the elite group of top athletes chosen by the Globetrotters were College Slam Dunk Champ Doug Anderson of the University of Detroit Mercy, NAIA All-American Tyrone Davis of Northwood University (Fla.), High Point University (N.C.) high-flyer Corey Law and baseball superstar Mariano Rivera. Griner has already said thanks, but no thanks, and I don't think we'll see Mariano Rivera throwing confetti buckets as "Sweet Georgia Brown" plays. But that's not even close to the story.

The real story is that the Globetrotters have an annual player draft—for just the one team—and have been doing it for seven years. Advertisement Here's the history of Globetrotter drafts, which usually go five or six rounds. Players generally fall into one of three categories: Actual Globetrotter material. D-II or NAIA players known more for their acrobatics and showmanship than their basketball worth. This usually includes the winners and runners-up of the college slam dunk contest. Nine of 33 draftees prior to this year have actually gone on to play for the Globetrotters, and they explicitly come from this group. Basketball pseudo-celebrities. Hoopsters who have made the news for something unrelated to their game. Examples include 7-foot-9 Chinese player Sun Ming Ming, Patrick Ewing Jr., Blake Griffin's older brother Taylor, married Montana players Anthony Johnson and Shaunte Nance-Johnson, blogger extraordinare Mark Titus. Celebrities. Past big names include Usain Bolt, Tim Howard, Lionel Messi, and now Griner and Rivera.

It's this last group that gets the attention (I haven't seen many headlines about the Globetrotters taking Tyrone Davis in the third round out of Northwood University), and that's the reason this draft exists. Hey, remember the Harlem Globetrotters? You do now! Normally we don't like to help publicize blatant PR stunts, but the Globetrotters are all about showmanship, so well played. The Washington Generals will select their draftees from a pool of the nation's finest athletes that can be found in the Home Depot parking lot on gameday morning. Sponsored

Question: Where do basketball's Globetrotters supposedly hail from?
Answer: Harlem