After hearing that Meadowlark Lemon, the clown prince of my Harlem Globetrotters had passed during this holiday season, a surprising teary eyed emotional response overcame me. He was 83.
I remember watching Lemon do his act with the traveling team of fun and mayhem. The times that my Dad took me when I was a child (when Lemon was the star) and the other times I took my own two sons to see the Trotters (when Lemon was the star) were memories never to leave me .
I will always think of Lemon as the man, knowing that others have filled his star role. Yet it was Meadowlark for me, not the Goose or anyone else. I loved Marques Haynes, former Trotter, the World’s Greatest dribbler, but he was “not” the clown, the soul of the team when he played for them.
Those performances on national TV were never missed. When the Trotters came to Oklahoma City, I didn’t go every year, but that was all right. In fact, one in five years would be enough. But it always revolved around Meadowlark, the master basketball performer. It is funny that the name Lemon would be associated with the two “funniest” men in basketball…..Meadowlark for what he could do on the court, and Abe (Lemons), former Oklahoma City and Texas Longhorn head coach , for what he could do with his wit and one-liners. In my lifetime, Lemon and Lemons were the best.
Thank you Mr. Meadowlark Lemon for the memories. You will never be forgotten.
