The Harlem Globetrotters By kiana king

The creator The creator of the Harlem Globetrotters was Abe Saperstein of Chicago, IL. He took over coaching the team of young African Americans. They were originally called the Savory Big Five, but at the time, only whites were allowed to play pro basketball so Abe changed the team’s name to the Harlem Globetrotters. He chose this name because it would help promote the racial makeup of the team, since Harlem, New York, was a very famous African American neighborhood. This was the start of an amazing team that is still around today. Saperstein and his team soon became very popular.

Players There have been many many players on the Harlem Globetrotters since the team was first founded in But perhaps the players that need more credit for the success of the team were some of the originals. Some of the original team consisted of Randolph Ramsey Babe Pressley Hally Harding Sonny Boswell Walter Wright Hillary Brown Lester Johnson Inman Jackson Charley Fisher Ted Strong Joe Higgins Bernie Price It is hard to know every single person from the original team because many members quit and joined during the time. The names on the right of the are the men in the picture who at the time were 1940 world champions.

About the team The Globetrotters were originally founded in 1926 in the Savory Ballroom in Chicago IL. The original players all grew up in the South side of Chicago and most of them attended the same high school(Wendell Phillips High School). The original purpose of the team was to play exhibition games before dances and the team started out playing basketball seriously and very competitively. They figured out that the white people would not pay to see them beat their teams because this was a time when discrimination was still happening. They started goofing off during games and then the white people paid to see them clowning around.

More information At the time when the Harlem Globetrotters were founded, Harlem, New York was a city exploding with rich African American culture so of course that was the perfect city to name the team after. Even though the team was now known as Harlem, they did not actually play a game there until By then they were becoming more and more popular. In the beginning, they would only show off and clown around after they had a really big lead in a game but as time went on their showing off was what brought the crowds and the money in so they soon became full time tricksters.

Pros of the team The team made it possible for African American males to show off their skills in the game of basketball. Many of the dunks and shots in the NBA evolved from the Harlem Globetrotters. The team still exists today and they travel all over the place. The team opened up doors for skilled African Americans and soon led to African Americans being able to play in the NBA. They are extremely talented people and they tour the world entertaining others.

Cons of the team The team originally was very competitive and serious but they had to change the way they played because they were discriminated against by the whites and the whites would not pay to watch them play for real. They had to stick with the team because the NBA was not integrated yet and did not allow their race to play. In the beginning the Globetrotters had to play other black teams so they wouldn’t beat the white teams. Many of the early players never got the chance to go pro.

Knowledge comparison Question : I asked, “What do you know about the Harlem Globetrotters?” Answers : My Mom- “I watched some of the Globetrotter’s games and I know that they were very well known because of the antics that they did in the game of basketball. They looked like they were always having fun together and people went to see them because they did things that you just couldn’t see in normal basketball games. They made a big impact on the history of basketball. My Sister and “I know they were a basketball team” My friend Allyah- “ Who are they?” This proves that many kids my age or around my age don’t really no anything about the Harlem Globetrotters. This is why we need to be educated about the Globetrotters and their affect on history.

The Globetrotters in action Harlem Globetrotters This link is a video about 10 minutes long, and it shows the Globetrotters doing what they did best. If you want to see more videos of them you can try searching Harlem Globetrotters on youtube.com

Cites ers ers globetrotters-play-their-first-game globetrotters-play-their-first-game