One of my major interests is in
basketball. My interest in basketball began when I was eight years old, when I
saw a Harlem Globetrotters game. I saw one of their games against the
Washington Generals at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Prior to this
game, I had no interest in basketball. It was one of the only sports that I
didn’t enjoy playing or watching. After the game, I was left with a great
interest in the sport. I signed up for a local basketball league in the coming
winter. I have always been passionate
about sports, but up until then I had never played a winter sport. Without
knowing it, I filled in a major hole in my life.
I want to
revisit what sparked my interest for the game of basketball. For the few out
there who don’t already know, the Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition
basketball team. They began in 1926, when Abe Saperstein organized and coached
a new basketball team called the “Savoy Big Five.” The members of this team set
the precedents for current and future members of the team. They began traveling
and playing the following year as the Harlem New York Globetrotters. They
toured the mid-West, playing anyone and everyone. Saperstein had to sometimes
fill in for injured players. In 1939, the Globetrotters lost in the semi-finals
in the Professional Basketball Championship Tournament to the only other
all-black team, the New York Rens (Renaissance).
Two years later,
the team signed Reece “Goose” Tatum. Goose had also played in the Negro Leagues
(baseball league) in addition to playing with the Globetrotters. Goose is
famous for developing and preforming many of the team’s classic comedy
routines. Another two years later, Goose left for the Air Force, and was
replaced by Bob Karstens, the first white member of the team. Bob developed
most of the moves that are now a part of the Globetrotters routine, the “Magic
Circle.”
1946 was a big
year for the team. They played their first game outside of the mainland in Hawaii.
They were also published in LIFE Magazine, gaining international recognition
with their .927 winning percentage. In the 3000 games they had played to that
point, they had lost only 219. In 1950, the Globetrotters star was drafted into
the NBA as the first black player in the league. It wasn’t until 1968 when the
Globetrotters played their first game in Harlem.
In 1971, the
Globetrotters began a 24-year long winning streak. Over their long history, the
Globetrotters have had many basketball legends on their roster, including Wilt
Chamberlin, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Lynette Woodard. She was the first
female member of the Globetrotters and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
2004.
One of the things
that make the members of the Harlem Globetrotters so popular is their amazing
individual abilities to “handle” a basketball. They can spin a basketball ball
on their index finger, or roll a ball along their arms and chest seemingly
forever. A Globetrotter owns the Guinness World Record for ball spinning. Week
by week, my goal is master a certain trick, such as the ones I just mentioned.
In the last week, I will compile all the tricks that I have learned into a
roughly 30-second routine of basketball tricks. This routine will act as my
final product. The tricks that compose my routine are subject to change.
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