Meadowlark Lemon, whose half-court hook shots, no-look behind-the-back passes, and vivid clowning were marquee features of the feel-good traveling basketball show known as the Harlem Globetrotters for nearly a quarter-century, died at the age of 83 on Sunday in his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Lemon’s wife, Cynthia Lemon, confirmed the death. A gifted athlete with an entertainer’s hunger for the spotlight, Lemon, who dreamed of playing for the Globetrotters as a boy in North Carolina, joined the team in 1954, not long after leaving the Army. Within a few years, he assumed the central role of showman, taking over from Reece Tatum, whom everyone called Goose. This was a time, however, when the Trotters were known not merely for their comedy routines and basketball legerdemain; they were also a formidable competitive team. Their victory over the Minneapolis Lakers in 1948 was instrumental in integrating the National Basketball Association, and a decade later their owner, Abe Saperstein, signed a 7-footer out of the University of Kansas to a one-year contract before he was eligible for the N.B.A. He was also inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. As his career continued to wind down, Lemon went on to become an ordained Christian minister. Lemon is survived by his wife and ten children.
