I didn’t want to go. I was not into basketball as a child, but I reluctantly agreed to go to a game at the old Greenville Memorial Auditorium. My parents told me it would not be the typical basketball game.
They were right—it was the Harlem Globetrotters, and it blew my mind! With deft ball handling, amazing trick shots, and plenty of comedy, they had the crowd laughing and cheering. I’ve been a fan ever since.
On March 27, the Harlem Globetrotters are headed to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, and their 100 Year Tour is celebrating a century of slam dunks, trick shots, fast breaks, and family-friendly jokes.
A Century of Globetrotters
1926 – Abe Sapern founds the Original Harlem Globetrotters.
1940 – The team wins its first World Basketball Championship.
1958–1959 – A Soviet Union tour features Wilt Chamberlain.
1970s – The Globetrotters have a popular Saturday morning cartoon on CBS.
1985 – Lynette Woodard joins, becoming the first woman to play on a pro basketball team.
1993 – Former player Mannie Jackson purchases the team.
2022 – A new show, Harlem Globetrotters: Play it Forward, premiers on NBC, Apple TV, and Prime Video.
You Can Go
The Harlem Globetrotters 100 Year Tour
Friday, March 27, 7p.m.
Bon Secours Wellness Arena, 650 N. Academy St., Greenville, bonsecoursarena.com
Some VIP Bench Experience and merchandise tickets available
Fast Facts
The Harlem Globetrotters have played in 124 countries and on every continent except Antarctica.
Michael “Wild Thing” Wilson set a world record by dunking on a 12-foot hoop in 2000, a record that still stands. The Globetrotters have 35 standing world records.
