GETTY IMAGES
The Harlem Globetrotters were big before Meadowlark Lemon’s arrival in 1955, but the athletic showman took the brand to even bigger heights around the world, earning the nickname “The Clown Prince of Basketball” along the way. Lemon, among the most famous of Globetrotters along withFred “Curly” Neal, Marques Haynes and Geese Ausbie, played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters.
Later in life, Meadowlark became a Christian Minister. He was inducted into the NaismithMemorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.