Meadowlark Lemon, Legendary Harlem Globetrotter, Dies at 83

Legendary Harlem Globetrotters star Meadowlark Lemon, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, died Sunday due to unknown causes. He was 83.  

Cynthia Lemon, his wife, confirmed Meadowlark's death to Bruce Weber of the New York Times.

Lemon is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, Globetrotters in history. Joining the team fresh out of the Army in 1954, Lemon's brilliance with the basketball and infectious joy brought him and the Globetrotters international fame.

His fake water-in-the-bucket trick has become a staple of the Globetrotters and their imitators, and he helped the team make its transition into the all-entertainment bonanza we still see today. His antics earned him the nickname the Clown Prince of Basketball.

"I have been called the Clown Prince of Basketball, and an Ambassador of Good Will in Short Pants to the world, which is an honor," Lemon wrote in his 2010 memoir, per Justin Wm. Moyer of the Washington Post. "To be a child of God is the highest honor anyone could have."

Even so, there were many who saw Lemon play who believed he could have gone head-to-head with the NBA greats of his day.

"Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I've ever seen," Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain, who played with Lemon for one season before his NBA career, said in 1999, per Weber. "People would say it would be Dr. J or even Jordan. For me, it would be Meadowlark Lemon."

Lemon played 22 years overall with the Globetrotters, leaving to form his own Globetrotter-like touring teams. He continued playing across the world for another two decades after leaving the Globetrotters, briefly returning in 1993 for a 50-game comeback. In all, Lemon's website makes the claim he played in 16,000 basketball games worldwide during his career, playing in more than 100 countries.

As his playing career wound down, Lemon began focusing on his religion. Ordained as a minister in 1986, Lemon formed Meadowlark Lemon Ministries with his wife in 1994. His religious work led to a television show, The Meadowlark Lemon Show, which was a staple on Trinity Broadcasting Network. 

The Basketball Hall of Fame honored Lemon with its John Bunn Award in 2000, which "annually honors an international or national figure who has contributed greatly to the game of basketball," according to the Hall's official website. It's the second-highest honor given by the Hall behind enshrinement. Lemon was enshrined as a contributor to the game in 2003.

He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, and his 10 children. 

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