‘Clown prince’ of basketball Meadowlark Lemon dies aged 83

Meadowlark Lemon (36), of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, offers a pretzel to a referee during a game at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Feb. 18, 1978.

Lemon grew up poor in North Carolina, and joined the team in 1954.

He played in over 100 countries, travelled more than four million miles and averaged 325 games per year during his prime.

Many of Lemon’s fans and those who saw him play during his career took to Twitter to express their condolences, including actor Rob Lowe and Mike Greenberg, co-host of the ESPN radio show “Mike & Mike”. He was known for his confetti-in-the-water-bucket routine, two-handed hook shots, the rubber-band ball and behind the back passes. We have lost a great ambassador of the game’.

“My destiny was to make people happy”, he said as he was inducted into the basketball hall in 2003.

Former Harlem Globetrotters star Meadowlark Lemon has died. Born April 25, 1938, exactly six years after Meadowlark Lemon, he was signed from an open tryout of more than 500 players after turning down a baseball contract with the Cubs.

“Man, I’ve had a good run”, he said at his enshrinement ceremony.

Known as the Clown Prince of basketball, the much-loved figure who passed away at 83 delighted audiences with his antics as well as his skills.

After 24 years of being with the Globetrotters, Lemon went on and started his own team.

Lemon did more than basketball, and was also in movies, talk shows, and even Scooby Doo. He is survived by his wife Cynthia and his 10 children.

“Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen”, Chamberlain said not long before his death in 1999. He was also an ordained minister and founded Meadowlark Lemon Ministries.

In an interview with U.S. broadcaster ABC in 2001, Lemon said the Harlem Globetrotters were never driven by money.