Meadowlark Lemon, RIP

Meadowlark Lemon, whose halfcourt hook shots, no-look behind-the-back passes and vivid clowning were marquee features of the feel-good traveling basketball show known as the Harlem Globetrotters for nearly a quarter-century, died on Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he lived. He was 83.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/s...ll-and-pranks-with-virtuosity-dies-at-83.html

 

Oh no! Always my favorite. RIP

 

Lemon was a slick ballhandler and a virtuoso passer, and he specialized in the long-distance hook, a trick shot he made with remarkable regularity. But it was his charisma and comic bravado that made him perhaps the most famous Globetrotter. For 22 years, until he left the team in 1978, Lemon was the Trotters’ ringmaster, directing their basketball circus from the pivot. He imitated [Goose] Tatum’s reams, like spying on the opposition’s huddle, and added his own.

He chased referees with a bucket and surprised them with a shower of confetti instead of water. He dribbled above his head and walked with exaggerated steps. He mimicked a hitter in the batter’s box and, with teammates, pantomimed a baseball game. And both to torment the opposing team — as time went on, it was often a hired squad of foils — and to amuse the appreciative spectators, he laughed and he teased and he chattered and he smiled; like Tatum, he talked most of the time he was on the court.

 

Damn. He left the team when I was 6 years old. I guess I remember him more from reading/watching stuff about the Globetrotters but pretty sure I saw him perform at least once before he left. What a showman.

 

Man, another small part of my childhood gone. I always loved the annual Globetrotters game on "Wide World of Sports," when he and Curly Neal were the big stars. RIP.

I also remember after he left the Globetrotters, he teamed up with Marques Haynes to form another barnstorming team called the Bucketeers. For a couple of years, they would have a game televised on NBC's WWoS knockoff "Sportsworld."

 

Anyone remember the Globetrotters cartoon on Saturday mornings?

 

Yes. They had super powers.

Sweet Lou Dunbar was "Gizmo Man" and would hide gadgets in his Afro. Curley's head would turn into a basketball.

I forget what the other guys could do.

 

Don't remember them being in their own cartoon, but remember them showing up on Scooby Doo and on Gilligan's Island.

 

He left the Globetrotters when I was 9. I loved those annual Wide World of Sports games against the Washington Generals as well. I think I might have seen him with the Globetrotters in-person one time. I can't remember, is Curly Neal still alive?

 

The Meadowlark-era Globetrotters were the best part of Wide World of Sports.

 

I still try halfcourt hook shots every time I get a chance because of him.