Harlem Globetrotters returning in April
The Harlem Globetrotters are rebounding to the Peterborough Memorial Centre for a game April 2 at 7 p.m.
The popular American basketball entertainment show has been a hit at the PMC several times over the years, including this past April.
Tickets start at $20 and go on sale Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. at the Memorial Centre box office or online at memorialcentre.ca. The PMC Scoop presale starts Oct. 9 at 10 a.m.
The Harlem Globetrotters are worldwide icons, synonymous with family entertainment and great basketball skills.
The Globetrotters represent 90-plus years of breaking down barriers with acts of goodwill and a commitment to fans that goes beyond the game, a press release states.
Abe Saperstein founded the team in 1926 and they played their first road game in Hinckley, Ill., on Jan. 7, 1927.
Since then, the Globetrotters have entertained more than 148 million fans in 123 countries and territories worldwide, introducing many to the sport of basketball.
They are pioneers in popularizing the slam dunk, the fast break, the forward and point guard positions and the figureeight weave.
In 2010, the Globetrotters also introduced the first-ever fourpoint shot, a shot located 30 feet from the basket — almost seven feet beyond the NBA’s threepoint arc.
In 1940, the Globetrotters won their first World Basketball Championship defeating the Chicago Bruins. In 1948 and 1949, the Globetrotters stunned the world by twice defeating the NBA world champion Minneapolis Lakers.
The Globetrotters were socially influential and quickly became recognized as the world’s best basketball team, showing that African-Americans could excel on a professional level.
The victories over the Lakers accelerated the integration of the NBA, as Globetrotter Nathaniel (Sweetwater) Clifton became the first African-American player to sign an NBA contract when he joined the famed New York Knicks in 1950.
The Globetrotters also embarked on their first international tour in 1950, played before their largest crowd ever — 75,000 — at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium in 1951, and finished the decade with their first trip to the Soviet Union in 1959.
The legendary Wilt Chamberlain was part of that historic tour. The Hall of Famer played a full season with the Globetrotters in 1958-59. After starting his NBA career, he still played parts of several other seasons with the Globetrotters, joining the team when he could between NBA seasons.
Following their 1951 trip to Berlin, the Globetrotters picked up the moniker Ambassadors of Goodwill from a letter written by the U.S. State Department to Abe Saperstein, which named the team “ambassadors of extraordinary goodwill.”
The Globetrotters have contributed more than $11 million to charities.
Check out the Harlem Globetrotters’ website at harlemglobetrotters.com