Ex-Globetrotters star Meadowlark Lemon dies

The Harlem Globetrotters’ most legendary basketball player Meadowlark Lemon has died, aged 83.

His death Sunday at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., announced by the Globetrotters, was confirmed by his wife, Dr. Cynthia Lemon. He received the highest honor the game could bestow in 2003, when he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. For fans of the Harlem Globetrotters from the 1960s and beyond, Lemon was synonymous with the team for more than two decades.

Lemon co-starred with McLean Stevenson in the NBC comedy series “Hello, Larry” in 1979-1980, and he logged guest shots on shows ranging from “Alice”, “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Here’s Boomer” and “Scooby Doo“, to numerous talk shows and Globetrotters TV specials.

“I was indebted to him”, said Mitchell, 76, president of the Florida A&M National Alumni Association. Lemon was trying to interest movie producers in making a feature film about his life, Brown said.

Note: The Harlem Globetrotters are scheduled to perform three games at the Allstate Arena, Dec. 29-30.

The end of Lemon’s career with the Globetrotters in 1978 buttressed the dawn of the NBA’s golden era, with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson entering the league a year later.

He believed that if you accepted him first on the basis of his many talents and his integrity and if you could make someone laugh, he would get you to listen, to believe and to change.

Known as the “clown prince” of the “big balling” basketball team, which combines skill and showmanship on the court.

The Globetrotters said on Twitter that they would dedicate the team’s 90th anniversary tour to Lemon and former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Marques Haynes, who died in May. Lemon was a fan of the team as a kid and joined up with them after finishing a stint in the US Army in 1954.

“Man, I’ve had a good run”.

“I, growing up, was living in Hawaii, which didn’t have that many African-Americans and whenever the Globetrotters came into town it was just a wonderful, fun-filled afternoon, but had I think some deeper meaning to it”, a then-Sen.

However, Lemon’s fame extended past the court.

The Washington Post wrote that as proud as Lemon was of his performance on the court, he was perhaps prouder of his performance in another arena: He was ordained as a minister in 1986, according to his website.