Harlem Globetrotters’ 100-year celebration tour stops in Kitchener

CTV’s Karis Mapp gets a sneak preview of what’s in store as the Harlem Globetrotters stop in Kitchener.

The world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team made a stop in Kitchener as part of their centennial celebratory tour.

The team showcased their penchant for unique and interactive experiences on Thursday.

“It’s basketball mixed with amazing entertainment and comedy,” Wham Middleton, who has been with the Globetrotters for 8 years, said.

All the athletes have a history with the sport and were later recruited.

“I was just in the gym and luckily the right person saw me and said he could give me a tryout,” Middleton said.

Baller Moss is now in his fourth season with the team and was picked up after playing Division I basketball at Grambling State University in Louisiana.

“I high jumped once my basketball career was over, and I got a phone call to come show off my basketball skills at a world-famous Harlem Globetrotters tryout,” the 6’7” player said.

Fans who head out to a Globetrotters match, which are all played against their arch-rivals the Washington Generals, can expect to see exciting trick shots throughout the game.

“We could pull you out on the court, start dancing with you, or pull you out on the court to take a shot. You never know,” Middleton said.

This year’s tour is significant as it marks a 100-year milestone for the organization.

“It stands for us carrying on the legacy that the greats used to do,” said Moss. “Meadowlark Lemon, Sweet Lou Dunbar and Curly Neal – it’s just amazing to have this 100^th season.

The Globetrotters were founded in 1926 by Abe Saperstein and became well-known for being an all-Black team.

In the 1948/1949 season, the team defeated the NBA’s Minneapolis Lakers twice, cementing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

In 1950, Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton became the first Black player to sign an NBA contract after he played for the Harlem Globetrotters.

“We are the reason why the NBA right now is integrated,” Middleton said.

Despite their name, the team actually got their start in Chicago.

“[Saperstein] took the word ‘Harlem’ because it was during the Harlem Renaissance and put ‘Globetrotters’ to make it seem that we were this team that could travel all over the world, even though we just played in south side Chicago,” Middleton said.

A year after the team’s inception, the five-player squad traveled for their first road game in Illinois and have been showing off their skills around the world ever since.

After Thursday’s game in Kitchener, the team is off to Barrie on Friday and Oshawa on Saturday. For anyone looking for another stop closer to Waterloo Region, they’ll be at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum on Feb. 4 and at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines on Feb. 5.