Meadowlark Lemon

Meadowlark Lemon was a basketball player and performer who achieved international fame as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. A gifted athlete and master showman, Lemon, who was nicknamed the "clown prince of basketball," made audiences laugh while displaying formidable on-court skills, including no-look, behind-the-back passes and a deadly hook shot that he routinely sank from as far as the halfcourt line.

Lemon, who grew up in poverty in Wilmington, North Carolina, recalled seeing a newsreel of the Globetrotters when he was 11 years old, after which he was determined to one day join the team. He could not afford a basketball so he fabricated a hoop out of a coat hanger and an onion sack and used crushed a Carnation milk can as a ball to practice shooting.

His dream came true when he became a Globetrotter in 1954. He remained with the team for 22 years, during which he and the all-black troupe toured the world, playing everywhere from dirt courts in African villages to historic arenas like Madison Square Garden. In addition to the team's millions of fans, their audiences included kings, queens, presidents and popes.

Lemon and the Globetrotters' on-court antics — which included the signature confetti-in-the-water-bucket routine and spying on the opposing team's huddle — never overshadowed their daunting ability as players. This was evident during games and spotlighted before each contest in the so-called "magic circle," in which they displayed remarkable ball-handling and passing skills to the tune of "Sweet Georgia Brown."

A testament to Lemon's talent came from hoops legend Wilt Chamberlain, who played with Lemon during a brief stint with the Globetrotters prior to joining the NBA. "Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I've ever seen," Chamberlain said in 1999. "People would say it would be Dr. J or even (Michael) Jordan. For me it would be Meadowlark Lemon."

The team was also a force in the advancement of civil rights for African Americans, which predated Lemon's tenure, when a victory over the professional Minneapolis Lakers led to the integration of the NBA.

Lemon and the Globetrotters also appeared on many television programs, including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show and The Merv Griffin Show. They had their own animated series in the early 1970s, as well as a Saturday morning series, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine in 1974. In addition, Lemon made numerous solo appearances on everything from What's My Line to The Late Show with David Letterman, and he had a role in the feature film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.

After leaving the Globetrotters in 1978, Lemon formed his own team, Meadowlark Lemon's Bucketeers. He also became an ordained minister and a motivational speaker.

Fittingly for a man who mastered both basketball and comedy, he was inducted to both the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the International Clown Hall of Fame.

Lemon died December 27, 2015, in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 83.