Founded in Chicago in 1926 during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, the Harlem Globetrotters helped break barriers in basketball while introducing fans around the world to the sport. As the Globetrotters launch their centennial tour with stops in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, longtime player Julian \u201cZeus\u201d McClurkin hopes the team\u2019s showmanship and history will inspire the next generation of basketball talent. (Photo courtesy of The Harlem Globetrotters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBy Jonathan Forney
The iconic starred and striped uniforms of the Harlem Globetrotters are almost as well-known as their trick shots and high-flying dunks. Founded in 1926, the organization played their first game under the Harlem Globetrotter name on Jan. 7, 1927. As the organization begins to celebrate 100 years, entertaining audiences around the world, their players reflect on the team\u2019s impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian \u201cZeus\u201d McClurkin, who serves the team as a six foot, eight inch forward, remembers the first time he saw the Globetrotters as a kid. McClurkin got his nickname for his thunderous dunks as a nod to the Greek god of thunder.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was a real team when I was a kid,\u201d McClurkin said. \u201cI thought they were\u00a0 superheroes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nDespite having \u201cHarlem\u201d in its name, the team started in 1926 in Chicago. The name \u201cHarlem\u201d was included in the team\u2019s title to capitalize on the excitement of the Harlem Renaissance, which was in full swing at the time of the team\u2019s founding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Globetrotters started in a time when Blacks weren\u2019t allowed to play basketball in\u00a0 White-only leagues,\u201d McClurkin said. \u201cWe used the popularity of the Harlem Renaissance\u00a0 to kind of springboard us into popular culture. That\u2019s kept us around for the last 100 years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nSince then, the team has played in 150 countries on 6 continents as global ambassadors\u00a0 of goodwill and sportsmanship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Globetrotters brought this game all over the world at times when nobody even knew\u00a0 what basketball was,\u201d McClurkin said. \u201cThis sport has brought people together who maybe never would\u2019ve been together in the past.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McClurkin would eventually play on the Washington Generals, a team known for losing to\u00a0 the Globetrotters, before joining the team himself. The Ohio native and historically Black college alum has been with the team for 16 years now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually they got tired of me dunking on them and they signed me to a contract that next year,\u201d McClurkin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nAs the team comes up on 100 years, the math to calculate its history gets easier. McClurkin calls being with the team for 16 percent of its existence is a \u201cblessing.\u201d Now, he wants to help\u00a0 inspire the next generation of talent, much like the veterans who brought him on years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just try to pour back into the younger guys as they come in,\u201d McClurkin said. \u201cWhen I first\u00a0 came in, I remember people who had been on the team forever. They just poured back into\u00a0 the younger guys and taught them all the tricks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
One such veteran, Coach \u201cSweet Lou\u201d Dunbar has been involved with the organization\u2014 both as a player and now as a coach\u2014for nearly half a decade. McClurkin values getting to\u00a0 learn from someone with such strong ties to the historic franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor. He\u2019s seen the team go through so many different phases,\u201d McClurkin said. \u201cI\u00a0 always love sitting around him and listening to his stories.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nAs the Globetrotters kick off their centennial tour, McClurkin said the team\u2019s track record on and off the court cannot go unnoticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see, as I get older, how we affect and impact culture,\u201d McClurkin said. \u201cNot\u00a0 just in the world, but in particular with the game of basketball.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Globetrotters invented the slam dunk, the three-man weave, the alley-oop and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, all the cool things you see in basketball today were all impacted by the Harlem\u00a0 Globetrotters,\u201d McClurkin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nThe 100-year tour will take place between February and April in the states and from February to October internationally. Aside from the stop in D.C., the team will be in Baltimore on March 15.For those looking to catch the Globetrotters on tour, they can visit their website,\u00a0 harlemglobetrotters.com. There, fans can learn more about the team\u2019s storied history, their\u00a0 dozens of world records, and more.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source afro.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Founded in Chicago in 1926 during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, the Harlem Globetrotters helped break barriers in basketball while introducing fans around the world to the sport. As the Globetrotters launch their centennial tour with stops in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, longtime player Julian \u201cZeus\u201d McClurkin hopes the team\u2019s showmanship and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2323048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[308694,450261,309797,379234,365221,450262,450263,450264],"class_list":["post-2323047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-chicago","tag-coach-sweet-lou-dunbar","tag-d-c","tag-harlem-globetrotters","tag-harlem-renaissance","tag-jonathan-forney","tag-julian-zeus-mcclurkin","tag-washington-generals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Globetrotters-legacy-as-they-embark-on-100-year-tour.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2323049,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323047\/revisions\/2323049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2323048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}