This is the life of a Harlem Globetrotter: “We are afraid of failing our tricks, but nobody can find out”

They were able to beat the champions Minneapolis Lakers and still claim to be just another NBA franchise today. “a competition more and more similar to what we do”. They do it after starring in historical episodes as a memorable performance in the USSR in the middle of the Cold War that calmed tensions or a ‘show’ with Pope Francis as collaborator.

Lynette Woodard, the first woman inducted into the Hall of Fame

This is how they recognize it THE SPANISH NEWSPAPERfrom the Prensa Ibérica group, Mia ‘Mighty’ (‘poderosa’) Hopkins y Corey ‘Thunder’ (‘trueno’) Law, two of the current Globetrotters, who began their tour in Spain -the country they visited for the first time in 1951- on Friday the 12th in Tenerife and which will end on May 21 in Seville. The player is part of a saga of women who broke the gender gap.

“Lynette Woodard, our pioneer, was the first to be inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ of the basket“, remembers Law, holder of eleven Guinness Records, including the one for the basket or the farthest shot from behind. Despite the enormous skill, both he and Hopkins feel the weight of responsibility: “We are afraid of failing our tricks, but nobody can find out”.

Nat Clifton, the first black player in the NBA

The burden of a historic brand like the Harlem Globetrotters, which emerged in 1926, is even greater. when Abe Saperstein took over the Savoy Big Five, that served as an aperitif in dance halls. Today it belongs to the Herschend Family, an entertainment company that owns different amusement parks. The cache for each performance is between $40,000 and $75,000. During its early years, the team was competitive and overwhelmed everyone who got ahead.

So much so that in 1946 they beat the Minneapolis Lakers, the best federated basketball team in the USA. They did it 61-59 with a basket at the buzzer. That was a victory against discrimination, because there were still two years left to end segregation in professional basketball in the US.

“We have broken down many borders in almost 100 years of history. Nat Clifton, the first black player to sign an NBA contract, started with the Globetrotters. We have always fought for inclusion”, defends ‘Thunder’ Law. Clifton’s name was included in a merit letter that the Harlems sent to the NBA in 2021 with which they asked to be one more franchise, despite the fact that they were already delivered to the show.

‘Mighty’ Hopkins, a Globetrotter after injury

Also included in the letter was a myth such as Wilt Chamberlainwho started with the ‘Trotters’, or Lynette Woodard, the first female basketball player to be inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’. “This club has always been innovative,” claims ‘Mighty’ Hopkins, who has found her refuge in the ‘show’ after a complicated club career that took him to Europe. “With the pandemic I returned to the US -he is from Pittston, the tomato capital-. I played in some local men’s leagues -averaging more than 20 points-. I tried to get into the WNBA without success and in Texas I suffered my worst injury,” she recalls.

At 26 I was exhausted and broken. “I decided not to have surgery and opt for rehabilitation. Three weeks later I had become a Globetrotter! A former coach encouraged me to take the test. My physical condition wasn’t the best, but I had an incredible day: all the tricks worked and the rest is history”, he recalls. In this exercise he launched one of the main virtues required to be part of the ‘club-show’ : “Focusing, which is different from obsession”.

‘Thunder’ Law, the Globetrotter with 11 Guinness Records

‘Mighty’ agrees in this argument with Thunder ‘Law’who since 2013, when he joined the Harlem Globetrotters, has led a race to perfection, “although we know that we will never reach it”. Thus, despite holding 11 Guinness Records (farthest ‘alley-oop’, farthest rebound shot, most half-court shots in an hour, highest upward shot…), he admits that “nothing has changed, because i feel nervous and anxious before every trick. We are afraid of failing, because we care a lot about what we do.”

All in all, Thunder have developed a strategy that sets every performance in motion. “My preparation allows me to have many cards up my sleeve. There are always alternative plans. So if something goes wrong, no one will know… Not even my teammates.“, the number ’23’ comments mysteriously.

“To be here you have to think and train outside the box. Being a Globetrotter is something uncontrollable, because you can always do better. For the records I got it takes strength, precision and concentration. Of all, the most difficult was the one with the highest number of shots from half court in an hour. It was broadcast live on television”, says the basketball player. For him, being part of the team with the rojiblancos pants requires “to be a great person and an entertainer“.

“Be happy 24 hours a day”

This goes for the salary and performance of a hybrid figure, where the athlete and the actor combine to create an idyllic world. As ‘Mighty’ Hopkins adds, “being a Harlem Globetrotter means being happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You should never forget that you are representing yourself and the brand. Many times it is hard, and surely not everyone can, because you are far from your family or your friends. You need to be mentally very clean. Otherwise you would send everything to take wind”.

A very transparent reflection that speaks of the high level of demand of a hundred-year-old ‘show’ that continues to hang the ‘no tickets’ sign wherever it goes. Nothing easy in a context of oversaturation of entertainment and transience in consumption, increasingly audiovisual. Globetrotters continue to succeed thanks to “competitiveness”a characteristic that could not be associated with a club that has practically won all the games against its ‘sparring’, the Washington Generals (over 16,000 losses).

Being one more NBA franchise

“It’s true that I miss playing club basketball, but in Harlem you compete against yourself. There are a thousand ways to do it, like, for example, when you manage to do the exercises in less and less time,” reflects Hopkins. This ability to excel is what has led the American team to be the pioneer in standardized movements on the courts and which represent the pinnacle of skill, “like long shots, no-look passes or alley oops, so popular in today’s game,” claims Law.

Hence, the two colleagues consider that the Globetrotters were the basis of the current NBA, with which they ask for a direct challenge, as happened a couple of years ago through a letter from their general manager in which they claimed to be one more franchise of the championship.

“It would be great to see a duel between the NBA champions and the Harlem Globetrotters,” says ‘Thunder’, one of the headliners of a successful show “that manages to make us forget all the ills of grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers , grandsons and granddaughters”. Intergenerational balm, far from the toxicity or violence that sometimes surrounds elite sport, and that will survive “because the emotion that moves us is inexhaustible”.