The Harlem Globetrotters are a historical basketball team that has wowed fans for decades. The Globetrotters have recorded a record of 27,000 wins and 345 losses. This includes an incredible win streak of 8,829 games.
On top of this incredible record, the Globetrotters have featured some NBA greats, like Wilt Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins. But what if I told you the Globetrotters once played a game against an NBA team?
Yes, it did happen, and it occurred two years before professional basketball was desegregated. On February 19, 1948, the Harlem Globetrotters played the Minneapolis Lakers in Chicago in an exhibition game.
The Globetrotters Take On The Lakers
The 1947–48 Minneapolis Lakers were in their inaugural season, playing in the National Basketball League (NBL), and they won the championship against the Rochester Royals. Their star was big man George Mikan, who averaged 21.3 points per game, and he won the season’s MVP.
The following year, the Lakers joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and became the 1948-49 champions by defeating the Washington Capitols. In 1948, the Lakers played another game, this time against the Harlem Globetrotters.
The game was an exhibition, and it was held in Chicago at the old Chicago Stadium. These two teams would play their exhibition game before an official game between the New York Knicks and the Chicago Stags.
The Lakers were known as the best basketball team in the world, with their star player George Mikan dominating down low. Minneapolis was an all-white team, as basketball was still segregated, despite Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in professional baseball a year prior.
The Harlem Globetrotters were also considered to be the best basketball team, especially the best all-Black basketball team. The Globetrotters started out as a real team, but they’d dominated their opponents so much that they began to play around, which led to the style of play people know them for to this day.
At this time in 1948, the Harlem Globetrotters were on a 103-game winning streak, and they wanted to prove that an all-Black team was just as good as an all-white team, or even better. This was no easy task, as many people were initially against black athletes playing against white athletes.
Still, the idea also excited people because, at the time, Chicago Stadium never saw 9,000 fans pack the stadium at one point. But for this game between the Globetrotters and the Lakers, 18,000 fans showed up to watch the game.
For the Globetrotters, they were led by Reece “Goose” Tatum and Marques Haynes. They were ready to put on a show for the fans of Chicago, which, interestingly enough, were their home fans, as the Harlem Globetrotters were actually from the South Side of Chicago.
The team was founded by a Jewish man from the North Side of Chicago named Abe Saperstein. He named the team Harlem Globetrotters to capitalize on having a team of all Black players traveling across the nation. This was unheard of at the time.
Saperstein chose the name Harlem since it was the center of African-American culture. So, the famous Harlem Globetrotters were born.
Now, for the game itself, the Lakers jumped all over the Globetrotters, taking an early 32-23 lead. Mikan was dominant in the first half, scoring 18 points. This was mainly because Mikan was 6’10”, while the Globetrotters center, Reece “Goose” Tatum, was only 6’3″.
In the second half, the Globetrotters double-teamed Mikan every time he touched the ball, holding him to just 6 points in the second half. With 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 59-59.
Then, Marques Haynes, who was known as the Globetrotter that could dribble the ball 348 times a minute. Haynes used his dribbling skills to dribble the clock nearly out, something he could do since there was no shot clock.
With only seconds left in the game, Haynes threw the ball to teammate Ermer Robinson, who took the shot as the final buzzer rang. Robinson’s shot swished through the basket, giving the Globetrotters the 61-59 victory.
There was some controversy at first. One of the timekeepers claimed Robinson’s shot did not beat the buzzer. The second timer said Robinson did, in fact, beat the buzzer. After some discussion, it was ruled in the Globetrotters’ favor, giving them the victory.
This victory by the Harlem Globetrotters was very important to the game of basketball. It showed the world that a team made up strictly of Black players could not only compete with white players but beat them, as well.
John Chaney, who was the basketball coach at Temple University for 24 years, was a teenager in the segregated south, once spoke about the significance of the Globetrotter’s victory.
“It just revitalized so many of us, from the fact that (it showed) what we can be, could be, but we needed a chance,” Chaney said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The Lakers and the Globetrotters would end up playing six more times, eight in total, with the Globetrotters winning the next game, while the Lakers won the last six games.
Here are the scores of the eight games between the Minneapolis Lakers and the Harlem Globetrotters:
– February 19, 1948, at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 61, Lakers 59
– February 28, 1949, at Chicago Stadium: Globetrotters 49, Lakers 45
– March 14, 1949, at Minneapolis Auditorium: Lakers 68, Globetrotters 53
– February 21, 1950, at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 76, Globetrotters 60
– March 20, 1950, at St. Paul Auditorium: Lakers 69, Globetrotters 54
– February 23, 1951, at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 72, Globetrotters 68
– January 2, 1952, at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 84, Globetrotters 60
– January 3, 1958, at Chicago Stadium: Lakers 111, Globetrotters 100
The matchup between these two teams would also help lead to the NBA allowing Black players in the league, starting in the 1950–51 seasons when Charles “Chuck” Cooper, Earl Lloyd, and Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton joined the league. Cooper and Clifton were former players on the Harlem Globetrotters, so the team’s influence on the NBA was certainly felt in a big way.
Today the Lakers play in Los Angeles and are one of the greatest franchises in the NBA. Their 17 NBA titles are tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in league history.
The Harlem Globetrotters now play in Harlem, which started in 1968, and they perform all over the world, putting on shows for basketball fans to enjoy. It’s always great to look back at the history of basketball and the teams that helped form the NBA into the globally dominant league it is today.
It’s safe to say without the Lakers and the Globetrotters, the league might not be what it is today.
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