RIP Meadowlark Lemon, 1932-2015
December 28, 2015 8:49 AM Subscribe
Harlem Globetrotter superstar Meadowlark Lemon, the Clown Prince of Basketball, has died at the age of 83.
George Lemon was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. When he was 20, he sent a letter to the Globetrotters asking for a tryout, but Army service intervened for a couple of years. When he finally joined the squad in 1954, Lemon made up for lost time, becoming an international superstar and one of the most famous faces of the franchise during his 24 seasons with the team. He appeared with the team in several Scooby-Doo stories, as well as the Globetrotters' own live-action and cartoon TV shows (albeit voiced by Scatman Crothers in the latter).
Lemon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Hall's John Bunn Award for lifetime contributions to the sport in 2000. Lemon was part of history when he missed the final shot in one of the Globetrotters' scant few losses to perennial punching bags the Washington Generals. "Lemon, although reportedly furious, did come back to the locker room and congratulate the team on their victory."
The Globetrotters have dedicated the season to Lemon and Marques Haynes, who died earlier this year.
George Lemon was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. When he was 20, he sent a letter to the Globetrotters asking for a tryout, but Army service intervened for a couple of years. When he finally joined the squad in 1954, Lemon made up for lost time, becoming an international superstar and one of the most famous faces of the franchise during his 24 seasons with the team. He appeared with the team in several Scooby-Doo stories, as well as the Globetrotters' own live-action and cartoon TV shows (albeit voiced by Scatman Crothers in the latter).
Lemon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Hall's John Bunn Award for lifetime contributions to the sport in 2000. Lemon was part of history when he missed the final shot in one of the Globetrotters' scant few losses to perennial punching bags the Washington Generals. "Lemon, although reportedly furious, did come back to the locker room and congratulate the team on their victory."
The Globetrotters have dedicated the season to Lemon and Marques Haynes, who died earlier this year.
🏀🎶
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:52 AM on December 28, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:52 AM on December 28, 2015 [14 favorites]
I met Meadowlark Lemon when I was a boy. He was in an offshoot of the Globetrotters by that time called "The Bucketeers". I was so thrilled to meet him as I'd seen the Harlem Globetrotters in their glory days even though I was all of 9 years old.
He was the nicest, most patient guy with kids swarming around him wanting his attention.
-G
posted by tunewell at 9:02 AM on December 28, 2015 [6 favorites]
He was the nicest, most patient guy with kids swarming around him wanting his attention.
-G
posted by tunewell at 9:02 AM on December 28, 2015 [6 favorites]
"That game was fixed! They were using a freakin' ladder, for God's sake! "
posted by entropicamericana at 9:06 AM on December 28, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 9:06 AM on December 28, 2015 [9 favorites]
Heard this earlier on NPR. I was never a huge Globetrotters fan, even as a kid, but you had to give props to their showmanship and talent.
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posted by Thorzdad at 9:11 AM on December 28, 2015
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posted by Thorzdad at 9:11 AM on December 28, 2015
I saw him with the Bucketeers when I was in college. They put on one of the most joyous, funny performances I've ever seen.
posted by plastic_animals at 9:18 AM on December 28, 2015
posted by plastic_animals at 9:18 AM on December 28, 2015
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I was debating whether or not to come into work this morning and honestly, if I'd read this before I got on the bus, I probably wouldn't have, but I can't really explain why.
He (and the Globetrotters in general) was one of those things that were such a huge part of my childhood but I didn't even recognize it at the time. A Wild World of Sports week featuring them was not to be missed.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:18 AM on December 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
I was debating whether or not to come into work this morning and honestly, if I'd read this before I got on the bus, I probably wouldn't have, but I can't really explain why.
He (and the Globetrotters in general) was one of those things that were such a huge part of my childhood but I didn't even recognize it at the time. A Wild World of Sports week featuring them was not to be missed.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:18 AM on December 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
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(could have sworn that there was a version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" (the Globetrotters' theme song) that had lyrics about Meadowlark, but I can't find it on YouTube.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:21 AM on December 28, 2015
(could have sworn that there was a version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" (the Globetrotters' theme song) that had lyrics about Meadowlark, but I can't find it on YouTube.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:21 AM on December 28, 2015
He didn't die; he passed.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:23 AM on December 28, 2015 [30 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:23 AM on December 28, 2015 [30 favorites]
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posted by Michele in California at 9:33 AM on December 28, 2015
posted by Michele in California at 9:33 AM on December 28, 2015
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posted by Frayed Knot at 9:43 AM on December 28, 2015
posted by Frayed Knot at 9:43 AM on December 28, 2015
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posted by mikelieman at 9:49 AM on December 28, 2015
posted by mikelieman at 9:49 AM on December 28, 2015
RIP Meadow George Lemon III. I saw him in his prime about 50 years ago (he would have been early 30s, at that point), and he definitely was the team dynamo. The Globetrotters themselves seemed to have much more impact at the time; those of us in the white suburbs back then never really got to see a group of black men praised for doing anything positive, much less being sports heroes.
When I took my son to see the team, six or seven years ago, the Globetrotters had devolved into a sad caricature of their original glory, even stopping the game entirely at one point to break into hip-hop dancing. Which, obviously, they didn't do nearly as well as hundreds of people now readily available to be seen on YouTube. Turned out that my son and his friend most enjoyed the halftime entertainers doing acrobatic dunk shots off trampolines.
Anyway, Meadowlark truly was a global ambassador, not to mention basketball legend. The team retired his number (#36) in 2001, which they’ve only done for six players in 90 years.
p.s. Off-topic, the Wikipedia list of the nine people made ‘Honorary Globetrotters’ so far is fascinating, starting with Henry Kissinger in 1976.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:50 AM on December 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
When I took my son to see the team, six or seven years ago, the Globetrotters had devolved into a sad caricature of their original glory, even stopping the game entirely at one point to break into hip-hop dancing. Which, obviously, they didn't do nearly as well as hundreds of people now readily available to be seen on YouTube. Turned out that my son and his friend most enjoyed the halftime entertainers doing acrobatic dunk shots off trampolines.
Anyway, Meadowlark truly was a global ambassador, not to mention basketball legend. The team retired his number (#36) in 2001, which they’ve only done for six players in 90 years.
p.s. Off-topic, the Wikipedia list of the nine people made ‘Honorary Globetrotters’ so far is fascinating, starting with Henry Kissinger in 1976.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:50 AM on December 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
I keep Ode to the Harlem Globetrotters by Kevin Young on my phone, with a bunch of other poems, to visit when I have a few minutes.
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posted by Rinku at 9:52 AM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Rinku at 9:52 AM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
It was always a good Saturday when Wide World of Sports had the Globetrotters on.
posted by Trochanter at 9:54 AM on December 28, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Trochanter at 9:54 AM on December 28, 2015 [7 favorites]
Like Tom Lehrer said - satire died when they made Henry Kissinger an honorary Harlem Globetrotter.
posted by atoxyl at 9:55 AM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 9:55 AM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
I hope they do the confetti water bucket trick one more time at his funeral. I loved watching the Globetrotters. I made my HS basketball team because of the 'Trotters. After seeing them at Madison Square Garden as a 8 year old, I spent the next 4 years practicing my ball handling, my ball spinning, my ball juggling and basically all types of ball control using a basketball. To this day as a 50+ yo, my kids still marvel at my dribbling abilities. (Soon it will be my dribbling/drooling, but...)
RIP Meadowlark Lemon.
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posted by AugustWest at 10:00 AM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
RIP Meadowlark Lemon.
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posted by AugustWest at 10:00 AM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
TIL that none of the Globetrotters did the voice acting on their Scooby Doo guest appearances.. Meadowlark Lemon was voiced by Scatman Crothers.
posted by Ham Snadwich at 10:00 AM on December 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Ham Snadwich at 10:00 AM on December 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
I choose to believe that he faked his death so he could go found the Globetrotter Planet from Futurama. Fair warning: I will ask Sweet Clyde to laugh derisively at any who disagree with me.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:02 AM on December 28, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:02 AM on December 28, 2015 [6 favorites]
A Wild World of Sports week featuring them was not to be missed.
Note on this mistake: though adult me knows the show was "Wide World of Sports", I always called it that as a kid probably I really only cared about the Globetrotters. It was unintentional in this case but let's just call it another tribute.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:11 AM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Note on this mistake: though adult me knows the show was "Wide World of Sports", I always called it that as a kid probably I really only cared about the Globetrotters. It was unintentional in this case but let's just call it another tribute.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:11 AM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Meadowlark Lemon gave a talk at my high school, which I was excited to attend, being a big fan of the Clown Princes of Basketball as a kid. Turns out, it wasn't Meadowlark the sports legend that showed up that day, but rather Meadowlark the Minister of God, and the whole thing was basically just one big pep rally for Christ. (This was Texas, mind you, and I guess it might have been outside of official school hours, but still.) It was a huge bummer for at least one Globetrotter fan in the audience that day. I like to think that Curly Neal would never have let me down in such a way.
But anyway. RIP Mr. Lemon. You were a joy to watch on the court.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:14 AM on December 28, 2015
But anyway. RIP Mr. Lemon. You were a joy to watch on the court.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:14 AM on December 28, 2015
Using all that NBA+ level talent and $$$ potential to entertain kids and families for smiles and laughter; tear in the eye here. /r/ .
posted by buzzman at 10:29 AM on December 28, 2015
posted by buzzman at 10:29 AM on December 28, 2015
At some point in the early '70s my dad took me to see the Globetrotters. I don't remember the details of that performance at all well (being as how I was maybe 6 years old at the time) except for the confetti water bucket trick. What I do remember pretty well is that I thought the show was hilarious, far funnier than anything I'd experienced up until that point.
That benchmark has long since been surpassed, but even allowing for a six-year-old's limited judgment, it still seems an accomplishment to me: to have been funny enough to have been clearly the funniest thing a human being had ever seen, so funny that you contributed to that person's earliest formulated baseline definition of "funny". Odd to be able identify the primal figures in one's sense of humor. Godspeed, Mr. Lemon, and thank you.
posted by Ipsifendus at 10:30 AM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
That benchmark has long since been surpassed, but even allowing for a six-year-old's limited judgment, it still seems an accomplishment to me: to have been funny enough to have been clearly the funniest thing a human being had ever seen, so funny that you contributed to that person's earliest formulated baseline definition of "funny". Odd to be able identify the primal figures in one's sense of humor. Godspeed, Mr. Lemon, and thank you.
posted by Ipsifendus at 10:30 AM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I attended a Globetrotters game back in the early '60's, I can still remember the joy and laughs from that day.
That is the one and only Basketball game I've ever attended in person, I suspect I couldn't have made a better choice.
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posted by HuronBob at 10:50 AM on December 28, 2015
That is the one and only Basketball game I've ever attended in person, I suspect I couldn't have made a better choice.
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posted by HuronBob at 10:50 AM on December 28, 2015
Aww, this is sad. RIP Meadowlark.
Understand, at the time, guys like Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal were considered to be more than athletes. It was like we thought they weren't allowed to play in the NBA because it would be unfair for them to use their magic basketball powers on mere mortals.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:10 AM on December 28, 2015 [11 favorites]
Understand, at the time, guys like Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal were considered to be more than athletes. It was like we thought they weren't allowed to play in the NBA because it would be unfair for them to use their magic basketball powers on mere mortals.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:10 AM on December 28, 2015 [11 favorites]
It was like we thought they weren't allowed to play in the NBA because it would be unfair for them to use their magic basketball powers on mere mortals.
Yeah, it seemed pretty obvious if you saw what they did to the Washington Generals. I believed this wholeheartedly as a kid. Eventually figuring out what was going on may have been a bigger deal than learning about Santa Claus.
RIP
posted by bongo_x at 12:23 PM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yeah, it seemed pretty obvious if you saw what they did to the Washington Generals. I believed this wholeheartedly as a kid. Eventually figuring out what was going on may have been a bigger deal than learning about Santa Claus.
RIP
posted by bongo_x at 12:23 PM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescat in pace.
posted by ob1quixote at 12:54 PM on December 28, 2015
posted by ob1quixote at 12:54 PM on December 28, 2015
Sigh. Another part of my childhood, gone to dust. RIP, Your Awesomeness.
posted by Lynsey at 1:07 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Lynsey at 1:07 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
It was like we thought they weren't allowed to play in the NBA because it would be unfair for them to use their magic basketball powers on mere mortals.
My head knows this isn't true, but reflecting on it today, I'm not sure my heart really does yet.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:13 PM on December 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
My head knows this isn't true, but reflecting on it today, I'm not sure my heart really does yet.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:13 PM on December 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
Ω
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:15 PM on December 28, 2015
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:15 PM on December 28, 2015
Parenthetically, "Meadow Lark" was on the short list for our daughters' name.
Think about it for a minute.
posted by mikelieman at 1:24 PM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Think about it for a minute.
posted by mikelieman at 1:24 PM on December 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Globetrotters had kind of a media empire going for a while. In addition to the above-mentioned Scooby-Doo episodes, they had a Saturday morning show called The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine (with Avery Schreiber as "Mr. Evil"), two Hanna-Barbera series, one an hour-long show with them as themselves traveling the country via bus, and another that made them superheroes that borrowed a bit from Hanna-Barbera's earlier The Impossibles. And, of course, there was The Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan's Island.
posted by JHarris at 1:30 PM on December 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 1:30 PM on December 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
there was The Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan's Island.
This came out when I was 12. I wouldn't say traumatized is the right word, but then I'm not sure what is.
posted by Melismata at 2:16 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
This came out when I was 12. I wouldn't say traumatized is the right word, but then I'm not sure what is.
posted by Melismata at 2:16 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've always disliked basketball. But I saw the Globetrotters once, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. The Cirque de Soleil of the mid-20th century, if you ask me.
posted by kozad at 7:37 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by kozad at 7:37 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
That "scant few losses" link chronicling one of the few times the Generals won is a great read. And I'll confirm that by the time I knew about the Globetrotters, the fact that they sometimes lost a game was an essential part of the Globetrotters lore and made them seem much more real than, say, Pro Wrestling.
posted by straight at 7:44 PM on December 28, 2015
posted by straight at 7:44 PM on December 28, 2015
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posted by one weird trick at 8:13 PM on December 28, 2015
posted by one weird trick at 8:13 PM on December 28, 2015
Lemon and Darryl Dawkins are two huge losses for basketball in 2015. They brought a lot of joy, showmanship, and athleticism to the sport and will be missed.
posted by koavf at 10:25 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by koavf at 10:25 PM on December 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lemon and Darryl Dawkins are two huge losses for basketball in 2015. They brought a lot of joy, showmanship, and athleticism to the sport and will be missed.
posted by koavf at 10:25 PM on December 28 [+] [!]
When I was in 6th grade I had a math teacher who was named Mr. Hill (I think) who at some point played with the Globetrotters. And I actually have Darryl Dawkins autograph (he came into the store I work at once). Both wonderfully nice men (and I am not a Basketball fan). Meadowlark was the name I recognized more than all the others, except Curly and it's sad that he's gone, but oh! what a life he had!
posted by annieb at 4:21 PM on December 29, 2015
posted by koavf at 10:25 PM on December 28 [+] [!]
When I was in 6th grade I had a math teacher who was named Mr. Hill (I think) who at some point played with the Globetrotters. And I actually have Darryl Dawkins autograph (he came into the store I work at once). Both wonderfully nice men (and I am not a Basketball fan). Meadowlark was the name I recognized more than all the others, except Curly and it's sad that he's gone, but oh! what a life he had!
posted by annieb at 4:21 PM on December 29, 2015
And I'll confirm that by the time I knew about the Globetrotters, the fact that they sometimes lost a game was an essential part of the Globetrotters lore and made them seem much more real than, say, Pro Wrestling.
IIRC, at a Globetrotters show, the first half is all ball tricks and comedy. The third quarter, they'd all play straight-up basketball as a light-defense skills exhibition (like the NBA All-Star Game), and this is where the Generals could theoretically get an actual scoreboard lead. The fourth quarter was back to the comedy, which would be improvised based on how the "game" was going.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:53 AM on December 30, 2015
IIRC, at a Globetrotters show, the first half is all ball tricks and comedy. The third quarter, they'd all play straight-up basketball as a light-defense skills exhibition (like the NBA All-Star Game), and this is where the Generals could theoretically get an actual scoreboard lead. The fourth quarter was back to the comedy, which would be improvised based on how the "game" was going.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:53 AM on December 30, 2015
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posted by carmicha at 8:52 AM on December 28, 2015 [2 favorites]