George "Meadowlark" Lemon, the basketball star who entertained millions of fans around the world with his antics as a longtime member of the Harlem Globetrotters, died Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 83.
Lemon played 24 seasons and by his own estimate more than 16,000 games with the Globetrotters, the touring exhibition basketball team known for its slick ball-handling, practical jokes, red-white-and-blue uniforms and multiyear winning streaks against overmatched opponents.
He also was one of a handful of Globetrotters whose fame transcended sports, especially among children during the team's heyday in the 1960s and 1970s. Lemon was immortalized in a Harlem Globetrotters cartoon series and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show," episodes of "Scooby Doo" and many national TV commercials.
My father took us all to see the Globetrotters at the Stockyards Coliseum when Meadowlark was one of the stars of the show. It was a hilarious show. Not only Meadowlark, but all the Globetrotters were fantastically talented with a ball. A great memory.
He was a genius on the court and could talk some talk. I don't think he shut his mouth the entire game.
I remember the first time as the family sat around the TV and he yanked the dude's shorts to his ankles, my Mom screamin "no, no he can't do that and hiding her eyes".
10 minutes later and she was laughing so hard she could barely stay in her seat.
