Winning streaks and rare defeats
One of the original losses for the Globetrotters was to the Sheldon
Orabs, who were led by William DeKraai in the 1940s. In January 1952,
the Harlem Globetrotters lost to the Seattle University Chieftains (now Redhawks) in an upset, 84-81. After a loss to the Washington Generals in 1962 alleged by Generals owner Red Klotz,
the Harlem Globetrotters lost only two more games in the next 38 years
(12,596 games). Usually they played a "stooge" team owned by Red Klotz,
which also appeared as the Boston Shamrocks, New Jersey Reds, Baltimore Rockets, or Atlantic City Seagulls. On January 5, 1971, they lost in Martin, Tennessee,
to the New Jersey Reds 100-99 in overtime; that ended an alleged
2,495-game winning streak (which would mean that the Globetrotters were
playing 277 games per year up until that date).
In addition to their hundreds of exhibition games, the Globetrotters
slowly returned to competitive basketball after 1993 under the new
ownership of former player Mannie Jackson.On September 12, 1995, they lost 91–85 to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's All Star Team in Vienna, Austria,
ending an alleged run of 8,829 straight victories going back to 1971.
The 48-year-old Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 points. The 8,829 games in
twenty-four years would mean the Globetrotters were playing nearly 368
games per year, or more than one game a day some days, for twenty-four
years. This is because multiple team lineups tour as The Globetrotters
to allow for a greater number of exhibitions.
The Globetrotters won the other 10 games during that European tour.
Five years later, following another 1,270 wins, they lost 72–68 to Michigan State University, the reigning men's collegiate champions, on November 13, 2000.
Two years later, they "set aside the hallmarks" for a "three-week,
no-nonsense tour against college teams" from men's Division One. "There
are no ballhandling displays to the tune of "Sweet Georgia Brown," no
buckets of water or confetti thrown, and no Washington Generals to act
as their inept foils." On November 10 and 11 at Vanderbilt University
and the University of Maryland,
another defending champion, they lost close games to both teams, their
first consecutive defeats since 1961. Yet the tour probably marked a
decade of improvement as a competitive team. On November 3, 2003, the Globetrotters had a streak of 288 consecutive victories snapped after suffering an 89-88 loss to the UTEP Miners,
who had just six victories the season before. It was their only loss
during an eight-game college tour wherein the Globetrotters had defeated
Michigan State (97-83), UMass (77-68), and defending national champion Syracuse (83-70).
On February 27, 2006, the Globetrotters extended their overall record
to exactly 22,000 wins. Their most recent loss came on March 31, 2006,
when they went down 87–83 to the NABC College All-Stars to bring their loss tally to just 345, a losing percentage of 1.5%.
Draft
Starting in 2007, the Globetrotters have conducted an annual "draft" a few days before the NBA draft,
in which they select players and invite them to join the team. The team
does not speak beforehand to the players they select (some of whom are
not even known as basketball players, such as soccer stars Lionel Messi and Tim Howard), and only a few of the selected players eventually agree to join the Globetrotters.
Notable draft picks by the Globetrotters include: Sun Mingming (2007), Brent Petway (2007), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (2008), Sonny Weems (2008), Taylor Griffin (2009), Tim Howard (2009), Mark Titus (2010), Lionel Messi (2011), Paul Sturgess (2011), Andrew Goudelock (2011).
In films and television
The Harlem Globetrotters have been featured in several of their own films and television series:
- The Harlem Globetrotters, a 1951 feature film starring Marques Haynes and other Globetrotters, also featuring Thomas Gomez, Dorothy Dandridge, Bill Walker, and Angela Clarke. Young Bill Townsend drops out of college to join the famous independent Trotter team. He also finds romance along the way. "Goose" Tatum and fancy dribbler Haynes were the star players of the Globetrotters at the time and Saperstein was the owner. Tatum, Haynes, Babe Presley, Ermer Robinson, Duke Cumberland, Clarence Wilson, Pop Gates, Frank Washington, Ted Strong, and other current team members appear in the film as themselves. Also featured is a lot of actual game footage (three times against the Celtics with Tony Lavelli and Big Bob Hahn), including the "Sweet Georgia Brown" warmup routine. (Along with making the film, the team toured Major League Baseball stadiums that year and went on their first tour of South America.)
- Go, Man, Go!, a 1954 sequel starring Dane Clark as Abe Saperstein and Sidney Poitier as Inman Jackson.
- On December 30, 1956, twelve members of the Globetrotters appeared as guest challengers on the TV panel show What's My Line?. Clarence Wilson acted as the spokesman and was accompanied by members George "Meadowlark" Lemon, Charlie Hoxie, Roman Turmon, Andy Johnson, Woodrow "Woody" Sauldsberry, Carl Green, Leon Hillard, Willie Gardner, and others.
- Harlem Globetrotters, a Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon, broadcast from September 12, 1970, to May 1973. Originally broadcast on CBS and later rerun on NBC as The Go-Go Globetrotters. The cartoon Globetrotters also guest-starred three times on The New Scooby Doo Movies.
- Coach Reeves of the 1970s TV series The White Shadow persuades the Harlem Globetrotters to prevent his team's winning streak from going to their heads. This is one of the few TV appearances of the Globetrotters in which they outscored their opponents in the first half, as the game was mostly a life lesson and not a contest. The team fails to see that they are playing the Globetrotters, as all they see are men in ordinary T-shirts, until the second half, in which they don their famous team jerseys. The Globetrotters return in season 3 when star player Warren Coolidge, convinced that his basketball ability would preclude his need to finish high school, considers dropping out of school and trying out for the Globetrotters. After failing miserably in his tryout, Coolidge is persuaded to finish his education before giving any thought to a basketball career. The Globetrotters reinforce his decision by introducing themselves to him by name and adding their college alma maters to their introductions.
- The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, a 1974 live-action Saturday morning variety show starring the Globetrotters that featured comedy skits, blackout gags, and educational segments. The show was produced by Funhouse Productions and Yongestreet Productions for CBS.
- The Super Globetrotters, a second animated series created by Hanna-Barbera for NBC in 1979. It featured the Globetrotters (now including new squad members James "Twiggy" Sanders, Nate Branch, and Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar) as undercover superheroes who would transform themselves by entering magic portable lockers carried in "Sweet Lou" Dunbar's afro or in a basketball-shaped medallion. Although the Super Globetrotters would first attempt to take on the villain with standard comical heroics, things would almost always be settled with a basketball game.
- The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, a 1981 made-for-TV film featured the Globetrotters alongside Bob (Gilligan) Denver and the rest of the cast of Gilligan's Island. The film's plot follows the first animated series' formula to a degree with a conflict that ends with an unusual basketball game against an opposing team made up of robots. The Globetrotters decide to play with standard moves in the first half, which the robots are able to counter, until Gilligan unwittingly comments that they have not done any fancy tricks. This makes the Professor advise the team to use their comedic style of play to win, which hopelessly confuses the machines. However, a couple of Globetrotters suffer injuries, and the team needs the help of Gilligan and Skipper to substitute.
- The Love Boat "Hoopla." The Globetrotters were on a cruise and challenged the crew to a game in the dining room.
- The Simpsons episode 2F12, "Homie the Clown." Krusty the Clown uses all the money he made franchising his name to bet against the Harlem Globetrotters, stating that he "thought the Generals were due!"
- Harlem Globetrotters: The Team that Changed the World, a 2005 documentary featuring interviews with the Globetrotters, NBA coaches, and fans such as Bill Cosby, Samuel L. Jackson, Barack Obama, Phil Jackson, and Henry Kissinger—himself an honorary Globetrotter—and including photos of the Globetrotters with Pope John Paul II.
- The animated television series Futurama features several episodes in which the Harlem Globetrotters appear as brilliant scientists as well as basketball players living on another planet, The Globetrotter Homeworld. Ironically, the Harlem Globetrotters react harshly to anyone who "laughs at their antics" as evidenced in the episode "Time Keeps On Slippin'."
- The Globetrotters appeared in the 2000 comedy Little Nicky with Adam Sandler, wherein they are shown losing to the Washington Generals, which is caused by one of Nicky's demonic brothers.
- On September 27, 2009, Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nate "Big Easy" Lofton participated in the 15th season of The Amazing Race, finishing fourth out of twelve teams, having forfeited a task in the penultimate leg. They returned for the show's 18th season, which is subtitled "Unfinished Business," featuring fan favorite teams who lost the competition because of various circumstances. The pair finished second overall, narrowly failing first place.
- As part of the cross-promotion of the show, Lang and Lofton also appeared on CBS Daytime's game show The Price Is Right to model prizes (a Sport Court basketball court) and present a showcase.
- On an episode of the television show 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan's character lies to other characters that the Globetrotters will make an appearance at a party. Despite the fact that it was a lie, apparently one Globetrotter does indeed attend the party.
- In October 2009 it was announced that a new Harlem Globetrotters animated series was to be produced, but as of this writing no deal has been made.
- In 2009 and 2010, members of the Harlem Globetrotters appeared on the nationally-televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago, IL.
- In 2010 five members of the Globetrotters appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? raising money for charity.
- On December 5, 2010, in a game televised on ESPN2 against the Washington Generals from HP Field House at Disney World in Orlando, the game saw several landmark events occur. A four-point shot may be scored from the four-point circle 35 feet away from the basket, with three minutes or less to go in any quarter. A penalty box was introduced as the price to be paid for any 'funny business' by a player. The Globetrotters made the first, and most, of the four-point shots in the game. All of the penalties in this game were assessed to the Globetrotters. The visiting Globetrotters went on to beat the Generals 104-98 in this historical game of firsts.
- The Globetrotters appeared in the second episode of the ninth season of Family Guy.
- In 2012, the Globetrotters made a special guest appearance on Disney XD's Kickin' It.
- Three members of the Globetrotters appear in the Harlem episode of Man v. Food Nation, in which they have to defeat a spicy two-pound barbecue sandwich in 15 minutes.
- Special K Daley, Ant Atkinson, and Blenda Rodriguez of the Globetrotters made a guest appearance in the October 18, 2011, episode of Sesame Street, in which they and Elmo talk about the number 3.
- Three members of the Globetrotters appeared in a February 28, 2012, episode of the Blendtec online video series Will It Blend?, wherein they help Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson and his Uncle Floyd blend miniature basketballs, glitter dust, a whistle, and a bottle of Gatorade. The team then pour the mixture into a bucket, magically turning it into confetti, which they throw on Dickson.
- Globetrotter Bull Bullard competed on the fourth season of American Ninja Warrior. He advanced to the finals but timed out on the first stage of the finals.
