He was my avatar for a long time...first basketball game I went to was to see the Globetrotters in the 60s..he was amazing.
I was going to say, I saw Meadowlark and the trotters in the 50's as a teenager. Then I thought, Can't be! It was Goose Tatum and the Globetrotters.
This^. Other than the annual OSU/UO game at the Coliseum, the Globetrotters were the only basketball of any consequence for Pacific Northwest fans in the '60s. Too, living in a lily white town, in some ways it was our only serious exposure to black athletes. Watching those guys is still one of my all time favorite childhood memories. And Meadowlark was their king. He was so engaging and into it. He really appeared to love the fans and went out of his way to let them know it. The game of basketball had no better ambassador. God bless and keep him.
I need to quit thinking of stuff like that! It might be true that no one on this board ever heard of Goose Tatum. The man died 48 years ago.
Meadowlark's HOF speech is probably my favorite of all time...RIP to the man who made me love basketball!