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%.

History

The official history contains several details which seem contradictory, such as the team being organized in 1926 in Chicago's Savoy Ballroom, which opened in 1927. What is clear is that the genesis of the Globetrotters took place on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, in the 1920s, where all the original players grew up. Most of the players also attended Wendell Phillips High School. When the Savoy Ballroom opened in November 1927, one of the premier attractions was the Savoy Big Five, a basketball team that played exhibitions before dances. Hinckley, Illinois, was home to the first Harlem Globetrotters game on January 7, 1927. In 1928, several players left the team in a dispute over bringing back other players who had left the team. That fall, several players led by Tommy Brookins formed a team called the "Globe Trotters" that toured Southern Illinois that spring. Abe Saperstein became involved with the team, though exactly to what extent is unclear. In any event, by 1929 Saperstein was touring Illinois and Iowa with his basketball team called the "New York Harlem Globe Trotters." Saperstein decided to pick Harlem as their home city, since Harlem was considered the center of African-American culture at the time and an out-of-town team name would give the team more of a mystique. After four decades, the Globetrotters played their first "home" game in Harlem in 1968.

Globber Trotters

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater, and comedy. The executive offices for the team are located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.

Over the years they have played more than 20,000 exhibition games in 120 countries. Brother Bones's whistled version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" is the team's signature song. "Globie" has been their mascot since 1993.