Meadowlark Lemon, star of ‘Harlem Globetrotters,’ dies at 83

A few years later, Lemon was the central player who helped build the team’s reputation for on-the-court jokes and was eventually known as the Clown Prince of Basketball, according to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Legendary Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon died on Sunday at 83, the New York Times first reported.

Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters shows off his large hands on arrival in London, May 17, 1959.

“God planted that dream in my heart as I sat right there in the Ritz Theater”, Lemon wrote.

After leaving the Globetrotters in 1978 he started his own teams and played well into his 70s.

Both expert player and entertainer, Lemon was the ringmaster of the team that delighted the world with their court antics.

After attending Florida A&M University, Lemon played during one of the Globetrotters’ overseas tours while serving in the Army, and requested a tryout with the team.

Lemon also made a number of TV appearances, including as a cartoon in Scooby-Doo, in Hello Larry with McLean Stevenson for two seasons, as well as a recurring guest spot on Diff’rent Strokes, Here’s Boomer and Alice.

Lemon was such an instrumental part of basketball’s growth as a popular sport that he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Lemon was the father of 10 children – five girls and five boys.