When was the harlem globetrotters first game

DeKalb, IL Show Search Search Query. Play Live Radio. Next Up:. Available On Air Stations. All Streams. During a regular season game they were leading an opponent to 5. The lead was so outrageous that it made for a boring game, so team members entertained themselves and the crowd by being a little silly.

The crowd loved it and Saperstein was pleased. He told his team that the clowning around was acceptable, only after they had secured a safe lead. The Globetrotters' famous "Magic Circle" routine. Saving their comic routines for strong-lead games, the Globetrotters continued serious ball play. From this point on, the Globetrotters toured internationally and would also, throughout the 50s, continuously compete against NBA teams.

They played in the Allied section of Berlin to an enthusiastic crowd. In following years they played for three different popes, for the Hollywood cameras during the making of the film "The Harlem Globetrotters," on the Ed Sullivan show and for sold-out crowds in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Following their trip to Berlin, the Globetrotters picked up the moniker Ambassadors of Goodwill from a letter written by the U.

The Harlem Globetrotters cartoon show on CBS earned some of the highest ratings in the history of Saturday morning television, and the team also had their own live action Saturday morning variety show, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine , while appearing numerous times on the popular and long-running ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Former Globetrotters player Mannie Jackson purchased the team in , becoming the first African-American to own a major international sports and entertainment organization. Globetrotter Michael "Wild Thing" Wilson set a world record in by dunking on a foot hoop at Final Four Weekend… a record that stands to this day, and one of 21 world records currently held by Globetrotters players.

Overall, there have been 13 people with ties to the Harlem Globetrotters inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. According to History. They have entertained more than million fans over the years, but perhaps their most lasting legacy remains their integrating the game of basketball a full twenty years before the National Basketball Association played its inaugural season.