For nearly a century, the Harlem Globetrotters have entertained millions of international basketball fans with their unbelievable ball-handling skills and basketball stunts. On Saturday, an audience chuckled and smiled, enjoying the sweet game of basketball at the Honda Center.
“College students probably don’t think too much about them, but if there ever was a game at the pyramid, I think it would sell out,” Josh Barajas, a senior journalism major at CSULB, said. “Watching the Globetrotters play live is probably on a lot of basketball fan’s, of all ages, bucket lists. I know it’s on mine.”
But the half-filled arena hinted that the teams’ days of sold-out seats are over.
Families with children dominated the crowd, from mothers cradling newborns to hyperactive middle-schoolers. Young adults were scarce.
Owner and coach Abe Saperstein established the Globetrotters in 1926, originally calling the team the “Savory Big Five,” according to the NBA. The all African-American team couldn’t play professional ball due to the association’s “whites only” ban, so they entered the Negro American Legion League. The ban was later lifted in 1950.
In 1939, during a leading game of 112-5, the Globetrotters attempted to keep the audience entertained with basketball tricks, according to the NBA. The team’s clowning around and talented ball handling soon became the Globetrotters’ trademark.
“They were a huge component to my basketball experience when I was young and are still revered to this day,” said Dan Monson, head coach for CSULB men’s basketball. “They combined basketball skills, winning and entertaining like no one else; I know my own children are Globetrotter fans. I have made sure of that.”
The Globetrotters own a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, awarded in 1982 for the team’s entertainment value. In 2002, the team also earned a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame, according to their website.
“I think more people from our age group understand more of the jokes,” said audience member Melissa Valdovinos, a student at Fullerton Community College. “[The game] is family-based, but we older people understand everything because we are closer to [the team’s] age group.”
“This is good entertainment for me, I’m really into sports so that’s why I came,” said audience member Angel Rodriguez, a student at Carter High School.
After almost a century, the Globetrotters are still breaking records and creating history. This past January, the Guiness World Record Association awarded Globetrotter player Big Easy Lofton for the farthest basketball hook shot, a whopping 61 feet and 4 inches, according to harlemglobetrotters.com.
Buckets Blakes now holds the Guiness World Record for the most basketball underhanded half-court shots in one minute, making six baskets. Both players created these new records during an event at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix, home of the Phoenix Suns.
Despite the Globetrotters’ record-racking talent, the overwhelming popularity of the NBA swoons students like junior biology major at CSULB Kristian Tian in the opposite direction.
“I think the Globetrotters aren’t really relevant anymore because they’re more of just a comedy act as opposed to competitive play … they do things we’ve already seen,” Tian said. “The popularity of the NBA and its reputation gives the precedent for what basketball should be, out matching the comedic tricks the Globetrotters offer.”