Meadowlark Lemon, iconic Harlem Globetrotter, dies at 83

Rest in peace to George “Meadowlark” Lemon who died in Scottsdale, AZ on Sunday, December 27.

Today in the New York Times reported that Lemon and the Trotters played in Rome before the pope; they played in Moscow during the Cold War before the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Lemon inhabited a basketball world he described as too rigorous for a modern pro: 16,000 career games played almost every night, shuttled by buses, rental cars and ferries.

Meadowlark Lemon did live a full life and will forever be known as the Clown Prince, the most famous of the Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2003, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

LEMON: I made my hoop out of a coat hanger and onion sack, and I nailed it up across the street on a tree.

NBC/NBC via Getty Images Meadowlark Lemon juggles Gary Coleman in one hand and a basketball in another. He had dreamed of playing for the Globetrotters when he was growing up in the Jim Crow South and joined the team in 1954 after serving in the Army.

For years on those trips, Lemon was the ringmaster, having taken over the role from Reece “Goose” Tatum.

In April 1952, the Globetrotters received a letter from Lemon requesting a tryout.

Former Sonics Head Coach, and player, Lenny Wilkens remembers him as a close friend.

Lemon’s skills were said to be good enough to have gotten him into professional basketball, but he instead wanted to be entertaining.

The Globetrotters played exhibition ball, mixing theater and sports. He began playing for the team in 1955. He also appeared in the animated series based on the team, as well as several episodes of “Scooby Doo”.

The basketball great was known for his impressive half-court hook shots, tricky behind-the-back passes and for dousing referee’s in cold buckets of water.

Once a game, he would pretend to suffer a grievous injury and have to be helped to the sideline. The undisputed master of the long-range hook shot, rubber-band ball and other tricks entertained crowds in some 100 countries.

During Lemon’s early days, the all-black Globetrotters’ influence was no less in the United States. Check out some of Meadowlark Lemon’s moves below. “I’m all of the above”. These guys influenced the way the game would be played.

Has spent the past 40 years with the organization as a player, coach and now director of player personnel.