Remembering Wilt Chamberlain’s 1 year with the Globetrotters: A ‘childhood dream’

Sonny Hill recalls a time when he and his childhood friend, Wilt Chamberlain, would go to the movies to watch newsreels where the Harlem Globetrotters often appeared. Seeing players like Reece “Goose” Tatum and Marques Haynes, two of the franchise’s top showmen during that time, resonated with Chamberlain and sparked an ambition.

The Globetrotters’ mission of breaking down racial barriers and stereotypes grabbed Chamberlain’s attention. But the concept of entertainment was something that stuck with Chamberlain until he died on Oct. 12, 1999.

Chamberlain played 14 seasons in the NBA, but the one season before he became a face of the league, he was a face of the Globetrotters.

“Playing with the Globetrotters was Wilt’s childhood dream,” Hill, a Philadelphia Sports Hall of Famer and current sports radio personality, told The Athletic, “and he was able to fulfill it.”

Chamberlain did not have the lengthy tenure other Globetrotters had. He played the one full season, 1958-59, and sparingly during some NBA offseasons and post-retirement. But Chamberlain didn’t need much time to set a bar for the future of both the Globetrotters and the NBA, becoming a basketball and societal icon who bridged two entities.

“When Wilt and I grew up together, the Globetrotters were the team that we wanted to identify with,” Hill said. “So, upon seeing them, when he got older, he wanted to play for the Globetrotters.

“I think it was the roots,” Chamberlain said in an interview on “MSG’s Vault” in 2012. “The days with the Harlem Globetrotters were some of the most pleasant ones of my life.

Remembered by many for his 100-point scoring outing against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pa., in 1962, Chamberlain led the NBA in scoring for seven consecutive seasons and was the NBA rebounding leader for 11 of his 14 seasons. He also won two league championships and was a four-time league MVP.

Chamberlain is one of the game’s most dominant athletes of all time, but his stint with the Globetrotters was an opportunity to showcase his skills as an entertainer. He began his professional career with the Globetrotters in 1958 as part of a sold-out world tour in Moscow following his collegiate career at the University of Kansas. He spent three years in Lawrence, Kan., intertwining basketball with a coveted track and field career. In addition to averaging 29.6 points and 18.9 rebounds per game on the court, he also was a three-time Big Eight Conference champion in the high jump.

The Globetrotters gave Chamberlain a chance to become even more of a versatile individual once he left Kansas. The Globetrotters perform their famous Magic Circle as a warmup to the tune of “Sweet Georgia Brown” before every game. Chamberlain fit in well and honed his art of showmanship by participating in one of the Globetrotters’ most important routines as a rookie.

“When I say he was in that circle … you can’t be in that circle and not be able to (perform),” Hill said. “That’s how good he was. That’s how agile he was, how knowledgeable he was. That’s how quick he could learn what was going on.”

Hill also noted that the franchise assisted with Chamberlain the basketball player thinking outside of the box. A 7-foot-1, 275-pounder was expected to play center in those days. The Globetrotters, however, had other ideas.

“With the Globetrotters, he didn’t play inside,” Hill said. “He played mostly on the outside.”

Abe Saperstein, founder and owner of the Globetrotters, was known as a masterful promoter with a business-savvy mind built for sports entertainment. He saw the immediate potential that Chamberlain could bring to the team. Adding the dominant 7-footer was considered a financial risk to some, but Saperstein paid a substantial amount in the $50,000 range for Chamberlain to wear a Globetrotters uniform, according to Hill. The average median income of families in 1958 was $5,100.

“Abe Saperstein saw the opportunity for Wilt to be with the Globetrotters and for them to make even more money, because Wilt had been seen as this phenomenal basketball player since he was in high school,” Hill said.

The NBA didn’t integrate until 1950, when Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton made history. The league grappled with increasing its favorability. Chamberlain’s popularity coming out of college naturally sparked conversation for the Globetrotters. He was a hit on and off the court. In addition to being a must-watch player, he also had matured into a must-watch television sensation, making regular appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

“He would talk about how phenomenal he was as a basketball player (on the show),” Hill said. “He had developed to the point that people knew who he was, and he was somebody that people wanted to identify with.”

The Globetrotters already had won over millions of fans by popularizing the slam dunk, fast break and their legendary in-game weave, but the franchise’s fan base, now consisting of more than 148 million people in 123 countries and territories, saw an uptick then when the 7-footer wore the uniform. Chamberlain played alongside legends like Meadowlark Lemon and Charles “Tex” Harrison, and he helped pave the way for a few future legends, including Louis “Sweet Lou” Dunbar, Fred “Curly” Neal and Hubert “Geese” Ausbie.

Meadowlark Lemon on Wilt Chamberlain’s shoulders during a Harlem Globetrotters game.#HarlemGlobetrotters pic.twitter.com/Nvp9J40UTs

— Bubble Gum Comics (@VinSportsNutz) July 28, 2023

Chamberlain’s one successful year with the Globetrotters turned the heads of NBA executives, making way for Eddie Gottlieb of the Philadelphia Warriors to draft him in 1959.

“When Wilt came into the league, Wilt actually built the NBA,” Hill said. “The foundation of the NBA was really built off Wilt. The ratings went up, the fan base went up, the coverage went up, the notoriety went up. Everything went up because people knew who Wilt Chamberlain was, and that gave the NBA an international person that people could identify with.”

But even after making his NBA debut, Chamberlain stayed true to his roots, playing for the Globetrotters in summers during their European tours. He was an unstoppable force in the NBA, but the daily grind was exhausting. Chamberlain playing with the Globetrotters during the offseason reminded him of how to enjoy a game that didn’t feel like work.

“Wilt set the precedent,” said Dunbar, the team’s director of player personnel and coach who played with the franchise 27 seasons and has been affiliated with the team in some capacity for 48 years. “Guys could have played anywhere in the world, but Wilt said those were the best years of his life, playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, because that becomes your family.

“He did go to the league and set all those records, but Wilt was a dominating factor (with the Globetrotters).”

Dunbar thought so highly of Chamberlain that he chose No. 13 as his jersey number in junior high school. He said he “thought Wilt could do no wrong” when he first started watching the game. As a 6-foot-9 big, Dunbar modeled his game after Chamberlain’s. It resulted in Dunbar having a decorated career at the University of Houston, where he became an All-American and later was inducted into the University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor in 2008. Dunbar also was a fourth-round NBA Draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1975.

“I wasn’t as tall as Wilt, but growing up, I was the tallest kid around, so (Chamberlain’s game) etched my mind,” Dunbar said. “Wilt was strong. He was just a true athlete. I loved to see the man play.

“I watched him when he was in Philadelphia, and I watched him when he went to the Lakers. I watched him all the way until he quit playing the game.”

Dunbar still remembers the first time he met Chamberlain. The two, along with Harrison, met in Hawaii. Although a majority of Chamberlain’s time was spent catching up with Harrison, who was Chamberlain’s roommate with the Globetrotters, Dunbar was in awe of Chamberlain’s presence, calling it an “absolute honor” to meet the Hall of Famer.

“Tex used to talk about him all the time, about how (Chamberlain) could do everything,” Dunbar said.

Wilt Chamberlain of the Harlem Globetrotters. pic.twitter.com/FhQQaDDDUX

— Paul Knepper (@paulieknep) October 29, 2023

Chamberlain’s basketball resume will lead with all of his NBA accomplishments, but stepping away from the league to work with the Globetrotters gave Chamberlain a certain freedom of expression. His No. 13 Globetrotters jersey was retired on March 9, 2000, at his high school in Philadelphia. The storied college career and multiple pro accolades, however, played just a small part of who Chamberlain was.

He really was about the fun nature of the game. And that fun was enhanced and supported by the Globetrotters.

Hill said the Globetrotters made Chamberlain feel comfortable, similar to that young boy who used to watch the Globetrotters on newsreels.

“Wilt’s feeling was that he was free. He could just be himself,” Hill said. “He could inclusive to what the Globetrotters were known for. The entertainment, the ballhandling, that all made him feel free.”

(Illustration: Kelsea Petersen / The Athletic; photos: TPLP / Getty Images)