Harlem Globetrotters: basketball superstars!
The Harlem Globetrotters are not just like any American basketball team…🏀
They combine physical talent, entertainment, and comedy in their games!
They play games all around the world and bring in huge groups of people to see their amazing ball-handling skills and funny tricks. ⛹🏽
Oh, and also… they’ve broken lots of records!
They’re the world’s most famous sports exhibition team, who started in the late 1920s… almost a CENTURY ago. 🤯
Made mostly of Black team members, the Globetrotters’ athletic excellence proved without a doubt that Black players could succeed at the highest level of professional sport.
That was a huge win for Black athletes all over the world. 💪🏽
In fact, one of the Globetrotters, Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton, went on to play for the New York Knicks, becoming the first Black player to appear in the NBA!
“I remember being a kid and always opening up the Guinness World Records books and I thought, that was like unattainable. But to be here with the Globetrotters and break a couple of records myself, it is an honour!”
- Donte “Hammer” Harrison
Records
Here are some of the records held by the Harlem Globetrotters:
- Largest attendance for a basketball game – in 1951, they played before 75,000 spectators, setting the record which was then published in the first EVER Guinness Book of Records in 1955!
- Most travelled basketball team – after visiting 101 countries. Honestly, where haven’t they been?
- Most points by an individual in an NBA game – 100, scored by Wilt Chamberlain.
- Most points by an individual in an NBA season - 4,029, again by Wilt Chamberlain
- Highest slam dunk – achieved by Michael “Wild Thing” Wilson through a net set at 3.65 m (12 ft). That’s as high as a polar bear. 🐻❄️
- Most blindfolded basketball slam dunks in one minute – 9, set by Julian “Zeus” McClurkin
Keep in mind that, some of these records, were set decades ago by the amazing Harlem Globetrotters, and still haven’t been broken by anyone else!
“It is not what you do in front of people. It is what you do when no one is looking.”
- Rock “Wham” Middleton
Fun Facts
Lastly, here are some curious facts:
- The Harlem Globetrotters play more than 400 live shows every year
- The shortest Harlem Globetrotters member – Jahmani "Hot Shot" Swanson – is 134 cm (4 ft 5 in) tall. That’s about the average height of a 9-year-old!
- In 1985, Lynette Woodard became the first woman to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. We call that… Girl Power 🩷