In 2026, the Harlem Globetrotters will celebrate a century as the exhibition basketball team created in the United States to offer the most carefree version of the beautiful sport invented with two baskets of peaches by the visionary military chaplain James Naismith in 1891. The Globetrotters’ recipe for basketball and entertainment, including comedy, is devoured by the public in each of their games.
Since the founding of this unique team in 1926 (before this sport was Olympic in Berlin in 1936), they have played more than 26,000 games in 124 countries and territories. This Tuesday they visited Zaragoza, where they gathered 6,000 spectators in the Príncipe Felipe pavilion, on a tour that started on May 10 at the Wizink Center in Madrid, and, after passing through the Bilbao Arena this Monday, they stopped in the Aragonese capital on their way to Badalona Olympic (Barcelona), to then return to Spain.
You may also read: Trae Bell-Haynes’ Future at Casademont Zaragoza: Uncertainty Ahead
Amazing tricks, great ball handling skills, and, above all, a lot of humor summarize the arguments of an almost two-hour show in which pure basketball remains an alibi. “I’m from Valladolid, but today I asked for a party at work to see the Globetrotters in Zaragoza. I’ve been watching them in Spain since I was 14, and I’m now 45. I wear their shirt, and I want to do the same sleights of hand that they do. I am fascinated by everything that has to do with the Harlem Globetrotters,” Jorge said at the foot of the track, dressed in the uniform of the legendary squad, with the number 13 and the name of its most legendary and past member, Chamberlain.
The show started at 7:00 p.m., but it was a good idea not to miss the warm-up of Spider, Sky, Sppedy, Splash, Moose, Lights Out, Sweet Lou II, or the nice Sunshine. Splash scored three despite wearing sunglasses; Sweet Lou II scored with his back turned from the opponent’s team line; Spider even scored from the referee’s table, under the box… Baskets and more baskets with the tricolor ball, between hugs to fans who were displaying jerseys from the most popular NBA teams. Even though they have already fallen in the ‘play off’, the kids (and the least kids…) continue to boast with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors and LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Curry, LeBron, and the Globetrotters are basketball icons that do not even erode recent defeats.
Despite the final score (112–105), the Globetrotters’ defeat never weighed on the pavilion. The Washington Generals were responsible for this (of losing, I mean…), the inefficient rival that allowed the true protagonists to shine. A friendly Dominican referee (Rico) who did not call a foul and a four-point line located nine meters away added more ingredients to a delicious mixture whose recipe is still being consumed a hundred years later. This Tuesday, Zaragoza savored it.
