Uninterrupted- The Real Stories of Basketball Episode 5
Uninterrupted- The Real Stories of Basketball Episode 5
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00:00For close to a century, the Harlem Globetrotters have been a symbol of family entertainment,
00:11bringing smiles and laughter to people all over the world.
00:14The Globetrotters have been the best basketball ambassadors this country has ever had.
00:20But underneath this cheerful veneer lay decades of player exploitation, labor disputes, and
00:25institutionalized organizational misconduct.
00:28I just wish it didn't have to happen this way.
00:30I've never spoke negative about the organization, and I've been gone over 15 years.
00:37Not once.
00:38Back then, I soldiered up, and I saw things that happened which I didn't agree with.
00:43I remember feeling like, whoa, snap of the finger, we could be gone.
00:47It fell in the line of slavery.
00:50Some of which emanates from the root of its controversial founder and the ownership regimes
00:55that followed him.
00:56To this day, I wonder why.
00:58Why would you want to do that as a coach?
01:00But he did.
01:01And a toxic culture that has persisted into the new millennium.
01:05I personally was living a nightmare.
01:12Legendary players, iconic teams, and epic moments in hoop's history that changed the
01:18culture forever.
01:20Journey into the heart and soul of the game, both on and off the court.
01:23This is Uninterrupted, the real stories of basketball.
01:28Sweet Georgia Brown, the iconic theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters, has always struck
01:37a joyful chord with basketball fans.
01:40But the Globetrotters didn't start in Harlem.
01:43They were originally from the south side of Chicago.
01:46In 1926, they started playing basketball in the Savoy Ballroom, before dances to increase
01:52attendance.
01:53They were the Savoy Five.
01:56There was a group of black basketball players that played in a ballroom, and they were former
02:00players at Wendell Phillips High School on the south side.
02:05When a few of the players leave the Savoy Five in a dispute in 1929, they form a team
02:09that travels around southern Illinois doing exhibition shows.
02:13Ready now for the opening tap off.
02:17As crowds grow, new manager Abe Saperstein selects the name Harlem Globetrotters to characterize
02:23the team as the first all-black exhibition traveling team.
02:27Abe Saperstein was a former athlete himself, and he was a promoter, and he was showcasing
02:35black basketball players that were not allowed to play in professional leagues, and they
02:40were a novelty.
02:41Leon Hillis playing a joke.
02:44At ball handling, you can't beat these boys.
02:48They would go to small towns around Illinois, Wisconsin, and nearby Indiana, playing anybody
02:55that would give them a game.
02:57That's how it started.
02:59The Globetrotters were a barnstorming team, taking games with nearly any opponent while
03:04entertaining with style.
03:06In 1940, the Globetrotters play in the World Professional Basketball Tournament Invitational.
03:12They defeat the Chicago Bruins of the American Basketball League, 31 to 29, and are considered
03:17the top professional team of the day.
03:20But the Trotters' entertainment is so beloved, they played their last competitive game in
03:241958 and become an exclusive entertainment touring group, capitalizing on the unique
03:30ball handling abilities, comedic style, and acrobatic stunts.
03:37Special K, baby.
03:38The Harlem Globetrotter game is not just a regular game.
03:41There's great, incredible basketball, but then there's also comedy.
03:46It's a show.
03:47It's a whole family entertainment.
03:49There are two primary positions on the Globetrotters, the dribbler and the showman.
03:56The showman is like the choreographer.
03:58He's the voice that you're going to hear the most.
04:00He's like the director of the entire play.
04:08Meadowlark Lemmon is one of the ones that, when I became a showman, I studied high showman.
04:15And Meadowlark Lemmon was just phenomenal.
04:20Now you have the dribbler.
04:23Some famous dribblers, Curly Neal, Curly Boo Johnson, Marcus Haines.
04:30And the dribbler is just that.
04:32They dribble better than anybody in the entire world.
04:37They are a good complement to the showman.
04:40They're like the sidekick to the showman.
04:42And they're great at what they do.
04:44While the showman and the dribbler keep the show going, the other three players follow
04:48the pre-rehearsed plays, and the crowd feels like it's all happening in real time.
04:52It was a winning formula that would launch the Globetrotters to celebrity status.
05:00Someone decided to take it all across the globe and bring together a universal language
05:07that everyone can respect and understand and love.
05:11The Globetrotters tour far outside of southern Illinois, touching the lives of millions of
05:15fans and finding new ones throughout the world.
05:18The Harlem Globetrotters, America's trickiest basketball team.
05:21The best professional men's team in the world.
05:23Harlem Globetrotters.
05:24We had sellouts almost every game.
05:29We had a lot of people that were like, you know, I'm going to win.
05:33I'm going to win.
05:34I'm going to win.
05:35I'm going to win.
05:36I'm going to win.
05:37I'm going to win.
05:38I'm going to win.
05:39One, two, three, four, five.
05:43My name is Bobby Zorro Hunter.
05:45I played with the Harlem Globetrotters for eight years, starting in 1966.
05:49One of the great experiences I had was playing in the Roman Coliseum with Lowe Chamberlain,
05:56where there was 64,000.
05:58I've never played in such a large audience.
06:01And what a game that was that we played.
06:05I think I got about 35 points and he stole my girl.
06:11Over the decades, the Globetrotters have traveled
06:13to more than 124 countries and territories
06:16on six continents, often breaking down cultural barriers.
06:20I've went to a lot of places where
06:22they don't like Americans, but they love us.
06:26My rookie year, I got to go to India.
06:30I got to go to the Vatican.
06:32I got to go to a free and democratic South Africa in 1997.
06:37And I got to shake hands with Nelson Mandela.
06:41Great man, and I was honored to be able
06:44to meet him and shake his hand.
06:46The Harlem Globetrotters cement their status
06:48as a force to be reckoned with.
06:52Over its hundred year history, the players have changed,
06:55but the Globetrotters' style remains the same.
06:57Original curling, curling doing these basketball dribbles.
07:03When I joined the team, I tried to learn the history of it.
07:06It was important to me to pay homage
07:09to the guys that came before me.
07:12I was basically standing on the shoulders of giants.
07:17You're talking about guys like Will Chamberlain.
07:20You're talking about Metalark Lemon.
07:22You're talking about Curly Neal.
07:24Curly Neal was beloved by so many fans around the world
07:27because of his basketball prowess.
07:29He was a great basketball player, number one,
07:32but he was a dynamic dribbler.
07:34He's a great athlete, great ball handler.
07:38He could shoot the lights out.
07:40But his personality with his smile.
07:43And anybody that's ever met Curly, they love Curly.
07:46And he carried that with him all around the world.
07:48And that's why he became, in my opinion,
07:51one of the most recognizable faces in the world.
07:55I gotta ask you about your bald head.
07:57Is that for real or is that just for real, Sam?
07:59This is me.
08:00I've been doing this since I was a kid,
08:02back in grammar school when I was about 12 years old.
08:04There weren't that many bald people on TV.
08:06It was him and Kojak, right?
08:08So he would stand out.
08:09Then he also had that big smile
08:11so you could feel that energy.
08:15While the public saw a tight-paced choreographed show
08:18that filled arenas with smiles, laughter,
08:19and fond memories, behind closed doors,
08:22it was a whole different ball game.
08:25When you play with a team,
08:27you're given kind of talking points
08:30and you learn a certain history
08:31that they want to get out there.
08:34And that's what I went with.
08:36And then I start hearing all these other things
08:38that I'm like, oh, wow.
08:40Like many trotters who came before him,
08:42Curly Boo Johnson would soon learn
08:44that the team he's always admired wasn't all fun and games.
08:48My dad played college ball with a guy named Bobby Joe Mason
08:51who played 15 years and is a Globetrotter legend.
08:55He was a frequent visitor at our home
08:58and he would just tell me all kinds of stories,
09:01inside stuff, the too-hot-for-TV stuff, so to speak.
09:05During his career as a trotter,
09:07Bobby Joe Mason would find camaraderie
09:09in his teammate, Bobby Hunter.
09:11One day in 1970,
09:15I found out I was making $16,000
09:18and my roommate at the time, Bobby Joe Mason,
09:23was making far less.
09:25And I could not understand it
09:26because Bobby Joe Mason
09:27was one of the greatest all-time players
09:30and contributors to the Globetrotter adventure
09:35in playing hard every game.
09:37And there was no way that Bobby Joe Mason
09:40was supposed to be getting paid way under me.
09:44The more he looks, the more inequities Bobby sees.
09:47And apparently, it's been going on
09:49since the beginning of the Globetrotters.
09:52The first Globetrotter star to leave in dispute
09:56was Sweetwater Clifton.
09:58Abe Saperstein decided to sell his contract
10:01to the New York Knicks and he told Sweetwater
10:04that he was gonna give him half
10:06of whatever he sold the contract for.
10:09Well, he gave Sweetwater $2,500
10:12because he said he sold his contract for five grand.
10:16Sweetwater goes on with the Knicks
10:17and is privy to his contract
10:19and found out that his contract
10:21was sold for more than $25,000.
10:24It blew away the history,
10:29what I knew and loved about the story of the Globetrotters.
10:33Over the next few decades,
10:35Globetrotter management would continue
10:36to be riddled with trouble.
10:37It's been a pretty successful formula for 60 years,
10:41but now management is shaking things up.
10:43Facing allegations of racism.
10:45And I just wish it didn't have to happen this way,
10:49but we were forced into it.
10:50Union busting.
10:52Well, we're probably more bottom-line oriented now
10:54than they were then.
10:56Player exploitation.
10:57One way to improve profits,
10:59get rid of some of the older, higher-priced players.
11:02And much more.
11:04We've been hearing this side for years.
11:07And so, if I can sum it up
11:09into one phrase that I think
11:11universally everybody can understand.
11:14Everybody understands a smile.
11:17Everybody understands Christmas.
11:19What do you do when you find out
11:23that Santa Claus ain't real?
11:30In 1970, after years of circling the world annually
11:34and entertaining millions with their basketball artistry
11:37for nearly 50 years,
11:40the Harlem Globetrotters' fame and fortune
11:42changed dramatically
11:44when CBS launched an animated Globetrotters
11:46children's TV series.
11:49Good work, Scooby.
11:50You smoked him out.
11:51But for Globetrotter Bobby Zorro Hunter,
11:53things weren't adding up,
11:55like being compensated fairly for the cartoon.
11:58What really bothered me was
12:01we were washing our own uniforms.
12:06We had to pay for our own meals,
12:09to play seven games a week
12:11and sometimes two times on Sunday
12:13and not get the economics from it.
12:15That truly bothered me.
12:18The first time I brought it up to management
12:21is telling them that I would not play that year.
12:26Management reaction to me was,
12:28Bob, we're paying you,
12:30so you should be quiet.
12:33We'll take care of everything sooner or later.
12:35We're paying you.
12:37That's when I fully found out
12:39how many people were getting a very low percentage
12:42from the very large amount of money
12:46and fame in which the Globetrotters had.
12:50It fell in the line of slavery,
12:53which was a very common practice within the United States
12:58of paying minorities less money
13:01to do the same job as others.
13:05Looking back at the history of the Harlem Globetrotters,
13:08the elite team was one of the only options
13:10for the most talented Black players in the country
13:12before Jim Crow laws were struck down in 1964.
13:16But many, including their founder and coach,
13:19are still considered racist.
13:21I had a conversation with Marcus Haines
13:23and he told me the story about Abe Saperstein
13:27paying all-white college all-stars
13:30more money than the Globetrotter players.
13:33And he said that Abe Saperstein told him
13:36that a white man needed more money in life than a Black man.
13:41It wasn't the first time that world-class players
13:43and performers were treated cruelly by racists.
13:46In 1960, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement,
13:50Jim Crow segregation laws were still in effect in the South.
13:54After a show, before 18,000 screaming racists
13:58before 18,000 screaming residents of Jacksonville, Florida,
14:02the team was not allowed to eat with the white patrons
14:04at the restaurant they chose.
14:06They faced similar issues with hotels.
14:09Globetrotter management did nothing
14:11to interfere with local laws.
14:13Over the years, several players,
14:16including Globetrotter legends Metal Lark Lemon
14:18and Curly Neal, have sued the team in federal court.
14:21Two men were in tears as they announced
14:23they were suing the Globetrotters.
14:25It's really painful.
14:29And I just wish it didn't have to happen this way,
14:32but we were forced into it.
14:35The players accused the organization
14:36of profiting off jerseys and other merchandise
14:39bearing their names and numbers
14:40without authorization nor any compensation.
14:44In 2007, after a lengthy battle,
14:47Lemon was finally awarded close to $800,000.
14:51In 1967, Martin Luther King gave us some advice,
14:55but we did not know what it meant.
14:57But we learned later.
14:59And the comment I remember was,
15:01it's never too late to do the right thing.
15:04And that came to mind when it was time
15:08to strike and to stand up.
15:12Despite players not being compensated fairly
15:14for their name, image, and likeness
15:16on the television cartoon,
15:18the animated program still inspired millions
15:20of kids around the country,
15:22including a wide-eyed youngster
15:23from Jersey City, New Jersey.
15:25My name is Harold Lefty Williams.
15:27I am most known for playing
15:28for the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.
15:31I played for the organization from 2007 to 2008.
15:35When I was younger,
15:36I saw the Globetrotters on Scooby-Doo.
15:38And to this day, I actually still have that DVD.
15:42And for Harold Williams,
15:43watching this dynamic basketball team
15:45in his living room is inspiring.
15:47I just remember the excitement of it.
15:49I remember seeing the animation
15:50of the different tricks and the dribbling
15:52and the curly kneel.
15:53And I believe Sweet Lou Dunbar was on that.
15:56I remember coming to basketball practice,
15:58telling my coach, Coach Tony Romano,
16:00that I was the future.
16:02For Williams, basketball is his passion.
16:04And the showmanship of the Globetrotters is a dream.
16:07My coach in high school was very traditional.
16:10Jump, stop at the foul line, bounce pass,
16:12you know, on the break, things like that.
16:14And I would come down on the court,
16:16trying to do these fancy passes
16:18and try to do things behind my back.
16:20That's not what we do here, you know,
16:22to try to get me to understand the basics of basketball.
16:26Even though his coach was conservative,
16:28Williamson's grandfather always encouraged Harold
16:30to be creative and express himself as best he could.
16:33My grandfather guided a lot of my young journey.
16:37He knew I liked basketball.
16:39And Globetrotters was a part of the conversation.
16:42So for him, it was just like, hey, you can do this.
16:46And I was like, yeah, I can do this.
16:48For him, it was just like, hey, you can do this.
16:51Granddad's words of wisdom would go on to play a key role
16:54in Harold pursuing his dreams.
16:56Go, ooh, well, I wonder, what's that about?
16:59You know, that was the first kind of like connection
17:01to show basketball, show entertainment basketball,
17:04kind of like, hey, there's a possibility
17:07of doing it a different way.
17:10In 2006, Harold Williams would make a phone call
17:14that would change his life.
17:16Charles Tex Harrison is legendary.
17:20One of the most important pieces to the legendary story,
17:24which is the Harlem Globetrotters.
17:26Tex was amazing.
17:27If he said you were in, you were in.
17:30I called Tex, I say hello, and we're talking.
17:33He said, and mom, please forgive me
17:35if you're watching what I say.
17:38He said, I need to see, can you do this shit?
17:42So I'm like, okay, let's see.
17:43He sent me some tapes.
17:46I put the VHS in, and there's Showtime, Paul Gaffney.
17:52He does his hook shot, and then it goes straight
17:55in the hole, and I'm like, yeah, that's what I wanna do.
18:04My first experience with the Globetrotters
18:06didn't go the way I thought it would go.
18:10Charles Tex Harrison, who believed in me,
18:12ends up in the hospital in a very critical condition.
18:15A team by the name of the New York Nationals,
18:18which is the Washington Generals,
18:19they end up saying, hey, well,
18:20if the Globetrotters want you, we definitely want you,
18:23because at the time, it wasn't under the same umbrella.
18:28And so I began to play for them.
18:31The Washington Generals team was established in 1952
18:35to act as an exhibition rival to the Globetrotters,
18:38and the only team the Trotters would ever play against.
18:41If it's not the Washington Generals,
18:43they don't have a team to play against.
18:48My name is Chris Walls,
18:49and I played for the Washington Generals.
18:52When I was asked to come in, the goal was for me
18:55to show them that I can play,
18:57and then get moved over to Harlem Globetrotters.
18:59So that was the end goal.
19:01Lefty was my teammate from the minute we jumped on,
19:04and we were on a journey and really focused to say,
19:07let's maximize this opportunity.
19:08Let's get to the other side.
19:11As a New York national, Washington General,
19:14you know, you never win.
19:17Since 1971, the Washington Generals have lost
19:20over 13,000 times to the Harlem Globetrotters,
19:24earning them the distinction
19:25of the worst professional sports team of all time.
19:29You are the butt of the joke.
19:30You are the punchline, right?
19:33It doesn't matter how good you are, it's scripted.
19:37You don't win, you know?
19:41One night, Lefty went off and I think he dropped
19:44like 13 points in a quarter.
19:45And we were just so excited.
19:47We were, you know, razzing the trotters,
19:49and the crowd was going crazy.
19:52He was doing whatever he wanted,
19:53and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.
19:56It caused them to call a timeout.
19:58And that's only probably happened three times.
20:01And the year that I was there,
20:02I saw them quickly move to a show quarter
20:05because it was getting out of control.
20:07After the game, the CEO at the time says,
20:10hey, Harold, what color are you wearing?
20:12When New York Nationals was, you know, red and gold.
20:16What color are they wearing?
20:18Oh, red, white, and blue.
20:20Yeah, they're here to see them.
20:21You do that again, and you're out of here.
20:24I'm like, walk away, back to the locker room.
20:26I'm like, man, I blew it.
20:27And he says, hey, just wanted to let you know,
20:30Texas is out of the hospital
20:31and they have plans on bringing you to Houston.
20:34So I'm walking in the locker room,
20:35I call Tex, I say hello, and we're talking.
20:38And he tells me, the only thing I vividly,
20:40I can clearly remember him saying was,
20:43I believe in you, now you gotta get them to believe in you.
20:47Williams is given an invitation to try out for the Trotters.
20:51It's the day he's been waiting for.
20:53And I kill it.
20:54I did what I know I can do.
20:56And then we got into the show aspect of it.
21:00We're in the locker room,
21:01and I'm like, I'm gonna do it.
21:02I'm gonna do it.
21:03I'm gonna do it.
21:05Well, I knew everything because I had the tapes.
21:07I had studied, I had prepared.
21:08I knew, you know, when you go down,
21:10this time we're gonna go down,
21:11we're gonna throw it off the backboard,
21:12catch it back, and then throw the log.
21:14You know, this time we're gonna go miss you right here,
21:16take it right there.
21:17You know what I mean?
21:21I remember when he called me.
21:23He said, I made it, man.
21:23I'm gonna be the first left-hand showman
21:26in Globetrotter history.
21:27And I was just so excited for him.
21:30And while it's the day he's dreamed of,
21:32the red flags begin to appear.
21:34The showman is the guy, right?
21:37He's, he controls the pace, the beat.
21:41Well, you got other guys on the team who want that to happen.
21:44They wanna be the guy.
21:46As Globetrotters, there's this fear of,
21:48I don't want anyone to come in,
21:50because if I come in and I help this guy
21:52or embrace this guy, he may take my position.
21:54And so I believe there's this culture of,
21:57yeah, we can be cool,
22:00but at the end of the day, you're here for my job.
22:02And it's like boiling crabs in the pot, right?
22:07One crab gets out, I'm out of here.
22:09I made it to the top, I'm out of here.
22:11Well, the other crab is just gonna pull you back down.
22:14And so to that perspective, nobody gets out.
22:18Everybody's eating.
22:24By 1971, Globetrotters like Bobby Zorro Hunter
22:27realized they had no seat at the table
22:29and would make it their mission
22:30to obtain the protections they deserve.
22:33I didn't notice the lack of health benefits and insurance
22:38until I saw some players get hurt.
22:41And then all of a sudden they left the team
22:44and there was no follow-up with it.
22:45Concerns about workers' safety and job security,
22:48which are typically provided by unions,
22:50remained elusive some 30 years later.
22:54Beyond the allegations of mistreatment
22:56and mishandling of players by management,
22:58is a danger each player faces
23:00when performing the acrobatic tricks
23:02the Globetrotters are famous for.
23:04Dunking acrobats work from 20 to 25 feet in the air
23:07with no net.
23:09Before his time with the Washington Generals,
23:11Chris Wallace would train himself
23:13to become one of the best acrobatic dunkers
23:15for the Milwaukee Bucks Rim Rockers.
23:17That's when he was asked to come travel
23:19with the Harlem Globetrotters
23:20and be a part of their halftime show.
23:22At the time, the Harlem Globetrotters asked me to come in
23:25and do a tryout for the tour.
23:28Once signed, Wallace becomes a high-flying piece
23:30of the Globetrotters' entertainment.
23:32As a part of the halftime show,
23:34he bounds off the trampoline
23:35to make the high-flying basketball dunking even higher.
23:38For Wallace, the risks quickly outweigh any reward.
23:42We were in Houston,
23:43and I was trying to master my craft of acrobatic dunking,
23:46and I was working on a new dangerous dunk.
23:50It's called an eagle, which is really a flip.
23:52And while you're flipping,
23:53you're going between both legs at the same time,
23:56and then you're cradling it into a dunk.
23:59I was 20 feet up in the air, upside down,
24:03and I landed on my neck and my head.
24:07I thought I was dead or probably paralyzed.
24:10I really felt like there was something wrong wrong,
24:12and I was scared to raise my hand
24:15and say I need to go to the emergency room.
24:17Too intimidated to get medical attention,
24:19Wallace tries to deal with the severity of his injury.
24:22I told my manager at the time,
24:23I don't think I can perform.
24:25A couple hours had passed.
24:26I didn't practice the rest of that night.
24:28One of the guys who did the tour before,
24:31he kept saying, you're going to mess around and lose your job.
24:35And that was the mentality that if you made a mistake
24:37or you did something wrong,
24:39you would be forgotten really quickly.
24:41Without a players' union, Chris Wallace has no safety net.
24:45Working within this culture of fear
24:47means every player is looking out for themselves,
24:50thus jeopardizing your ability to earn a living.
24:53Well, it was very toxic because this was something
24:56that some players, that's all they had.
24:59This is their whole life.
25:02And when you take away their whole life,
25:05that's the most frightening thing.
25:07So Bobby took it upon himself to shake up the organization.
25:11In 1971, I became the first president of the union
25:15and started the first strike.
25:17Then I found out I had to learn some stuff
25:19because I had no idea about business or unions or et cetera.
25:25Jesse Jackson came to my aid.
25:28When he walked in and said,
25:29Bob, we'll stand behind you and we'll help you.
25:33That was really something.
25:36And then in the papers, it was saying
25:39what the Globetrotters were getting paid was slavery.
25:44It made an announcement to the world.
25:47All of a sudden, people started to listen.
25:51Bobby Hunter gathered influential friends
25:53to discuss the union and help him strategize,
25:56Muhammad Ali among them.
25:58We were at Smoking Joe's place in Philadelphia.
26:01Muhammad Ali was broke and he was happy to speak to me
26:05about not only what he was going through,
26:08but what I was going through.
26:11Muhammad Ali, he said, Bobby,
26:15they're gonna try to bribe you.
26:17Now you remember, when they try to bribe you,
26:20you laugh at them as hard as you can and laugh out loud.
26:25A few months later, Bobby's moment of truth would arise.
26:29I was in Lakeview Terrace in California
26:33and the Globetrotters called me to come to Beverly Hills Hotel
26:38and the director said to me,
26:41you're a president and I'm a president.
26:43We should be able to get together.
26:47I did what Muhammad Ali told me.
26:49I laughed out loud and making sure my teeth
26:51was spreading to the sun.
26:54And boy, did it feel good.
26:56And it's something I'll always remember in my life.
26:59So all of a sudden, they wanted to settle the strike.
27:05At the end of the day, the settlement was implemented.
27:09It felt very powerful
27:12and the players felt very happy about it
27:15because they all joined into the union.
27:19Bobby envisioned a future where young upstarts
27:21like Harold Lefty-Williams are able to mesmerize fans
27:24while not having to look over their shoulder,
27:27afraid that management would cut them without due cause.
27:30The day I found out that I was going to become a showman
27:34is the same day that a guy who renewed his contract that day,
27:40they turned around and rescinded his contract
27:43and fired him to hire me.
27:47I didn't know it at the time right away,
27:49but once the season started,
27:50I began to know what was going on
27:53because the murmurs and the chats.
27:56While he isn't comfortable with the dealings
27:58around the rescinded offer,
27:59his once in a lifetime job has arrived.
28:03Williams eagerly gets busy training and performing.
28:07So if you think about the skits that have started
28:09since the beginning of the inception
28:10of Globetrotter history,
28:12they've all been right-handed showmen.
28:14So everything's been either set up
28:16for a right-handed side of the floor
28:18or a right-handed pass from the left side.
28:22So when Harold was learning all these skits, these plays,
28:26he had to learn them in reverse,
28:28opposite side of the floor, opposite way.
28:31And that's really difficult.
28:33And I think Harold handled that really well going into it.
28:37Six months into his new career,
28:38he's on the road in his hotel room
28:40when he's asked to meet with the Globetrotter COO.
28:43He's asking me how they're treating me
28:45and he's asking about certain players.
28:47And I, you know, I never said anything.
28:52I didn't give any good news report.
28:53I didn't give any bad news report.
28:54I was there to feed my family
28:56and play the game that I love.
28:59Was there something that you think they wanted you to say?
29:01There was information that I know was asked to me
29:05about, you know, Showtime.
29:07You know, there was, you know, different, you know,
29:10weight issues and just different stuff.
29:13Williams kept his mouth shut
29:14about the legendary Paul Showtime Gaffney,
29:17who was nearing the culmination of his career
29:18as an entertainer and a Globetrotter
29:20and was on the brink of what many would perceive
29:23to be his final act.
29:25He was the highest paid Globetrotter.
29:27And when I later found out
29:30through other things that was happening on the road
29:33that, you know what, I might've sealed my fate
29:37by not giving any information.
29:40Speculation suggests that Showtime,
29:42possibly fearing for his job,
29:44attempts to demonstrate for management
29:45that his left-handed replacement is not up to the task
29:48on the Globetrotters' biggest stage.
29:51The Magic Circle is a pregame warmup routine
29:54where a select few of the top Globetrotters
29:56perform various tricks.
29:58Showtime came to me first.
30:00The showman always goes first.
30:02You're running around and when you're passing it,
30:03everybody get a chance to touch it.
30:05And then you're kneeling and you're clapping
30:07and you're getting it together
30:07just to that sweet Georgia Brown.
30:10And he's doing his same old thing, you know.
30:12He's going back, catch, back, catch, right?
30:16And then he gets ready.
30:17He spins it all the way up in the air like that.
30:20He claps, put his hands out and it rolls
30:22and then he hits it like that
30:24and it's supposed to come to you.
30:26Well, my hands are up and I'm ready.
30:31And it goes over my head.
30:34Well, everybody know that's a big no-no.
30:37Everybody know you don't mess up in the Magic Circle.
30:40With no players' association to have his back,
30:43Lefty finds himself on thin ice.
30:50After missing a key pass from Showtime
30:52during his debut in the Magic Circle,
30:54Harold Lefty-Williams' trust in his teammates is tested.
30:58I personally feel like he hit it hard on purpose.
31:01And he is given a serious warning by management.
31:05From the moment you take the floor, the show starts.
31:08So to miss that, Stevie Wonder could see that
31:13I'm on the outs.
31:15Management's strategy of keeping players in check
31:17through fear, early termination, and intimidation
31:21is what has made it so difficult for them to unionize.
31:25To explore having a union,
31:26you got to have one key word, unity.
31:30And while the 1971 Globetrotters
31:32were enjoying their newly found players' association,
31:35management decided to employ
31:36a tried and tested union-busting tactic.
31:39Globetrotters in the past fell victim
31:43to the oldest trick in the book, divide and conquer.
31:49Slowly, it was attacked.
31:52They started to do it piece by piece
31:55by getting rid of key people
31:57within the structure of the union.
32:00They started to divide the players in the locker room.
32:04There were some players that were brought in.
32:06Some of them could barely play.
32:09Some of them could still play,
32:10but they were held so that if we struck again,
32:15they could always have five players on the floor.
32:18There was no question there was a target on my back.
32:22I never told anyone this story,
32:26but it all came to an end in an Oklahoma gymnasium.
32:29We were practicing five days a week, three times a day.
32:35And I was playing against a college All-Stars
32:38that they brought in from all over the country.
32:41And I must've had one of the best camps I had,
32:45shooting camps, to someone pushed me into a fan
32:51and hobbled my leg.
32:54And then the two days later,
32:56they told me I did not make the team.
32:59After eight years of loyalty and dedication to his team,
33:02Globetrotters management conveniently uses
33:04Bobby's injury to part ways.
33:06New players are brought in
33:08and the union is swiftly dismantled.
33:11Almost 40 years later,
33:12Chris Walls is witness to another failed attempt
33:15to unionize the players.
33:17The team said, we should go on strike
33:19and we should negotiate our contract.
33:21We feel like we're being underpaid.
33:23So I completely agreed with what they were saying,
33:26but my thought was, I'm a man of my word.
33:29I committed to a contract.
33:30I'm gonna finish this show.
33:32I think we had five guys at the time.
33:35Three of the guys tried to negotiate
33:37at a venue before a show and they were all sent home.
33:41These unions usually don't form
33:43because somebody is scared, right?
33:47Somebody is scared.
33:49But if you know the laws
33:53and you know what you're able to do,
33:55you wouldn't be fearful.
33:57I remember feeling like, whoa,
33:59that's how fast and that's a snap of a finger
34:03we could be gone.
34:04The Harlem Globetrotters organization
34:07was all about the bottom line and lacked human decency.
34:11And in 2008, Harold Williams would come face to face
34:14with that.
34:16You know, I kinda spent a lot of time thinking about,
34:23is it time to tell my story?
34:27And I felt like it's best that if they're gonna hear it,
34:32that they hear it from the horse's mouth.
34:36I'm overseas and I'm getting ready for our show.
34:42I get a call from my wife.
34:44She's trying to reach me.
34:48She tells me that she suffered a miscarriage
34:53and that they couldn't stop the bleeding
34:57and she needed to be rushed to surgery.
35:05I'm not processing it properly.
35:08I'm like, can you hold off surgery till I get home?
35:12It's really stupid of me.
35:15Talk to the doctor.
35:17And he says, I don't know if she has an hour to live.
35:21My coach who was in charge of that tour
35:26My coach who was in charge of that tour, he was trying to be sympathetic all while trying
35:43to stay in business mode.
35:47You know, and I'm like, well, I kind of, I kind of want to get home.
35:52I'm thinking about going home, and then I'm hit with, never give a man an opportunity
35:59to do your job because if you do, you may never get a chance to do it again.
36:05It felt like it was as if, well, that's her, that's not you, you good.
36:14So I'm in the locker room, and it's pretty much understood that I'm expected to play.
36:22At that point, you got to play.
36:26I step out of the locker room.
36:30I allowed the fans to enjoy themselves, to dream and see something spectacular while
36:38I personally was living a nightmare.
36:43Management never even embraced me.
36:45I didn't get a call from no one from the front office.
36:47I didn't, you know, there was no email, no nothing.
36:53At that point, you're counting the days of when the North American tour is over because
37:01after that, you get a week or two weeks off, and then the European tour starts.
37:07And then I get the call.
37:10Then I get the call.
37:13Everybody knows about the call.
37:16Call is what you get when you're being let go.
37:19I didn't get a reason.
37:21To this day, to this day, I don't know why I was let go.
37:30Mind you, this happened directly after I lost my kid.
37:40For many Globetrotters, the journey has not been what they had dreamt it would be.
37:45For years, I said nothing.
37:46I had nothing to say.
37:48I've read articles, things that were misquoted, and so I'm okay with telling my side because
37:57it's been controlled, what you can say, what you can't say.
38:01Since its inception in 1926, Harlem Globetrotter players have been performing at the mercy
38:06of their many bosses, handled and never given a voice.
38:11When Lefty returned home to his wife after she had a life-threatening miscarriage, he
38:15found himself replaced shortly thereafter.
38:19Lefty and I, we probably had about a four-month stint where he was busy on the road.
38:23We didn't talk.
38:24And I remember I reached out to him, and I said, hey, I can't wait to see you.
38:27And he said, I'm not with the organization anymore.
38:31And my mouth just hit the ground because I'm like, how does this even happen?
38:36You weren't evaluated, they didn't bring you in for an interview, they didn't talk you
38:39through this stuff.
38:40It sounds cliche to say it, but it sounds like he was kind of left behind.
38:45As long as I speak truth, losing a loved one is way worse than what I've been through with
38:55the organization.
38:57And it's best that I tell it.
39:01I hate that he went through that, Lefty.
39:03I'm not surprised.
39:06I hope the best for my Globetrotter brother, always have.
39:12When I hear stories, it does bother me because we're the ambassadors of goodwill.
39:21There's no question the popularity of the Harlem Globetrotters continues to grow.
39:26This demand has led multiple Globetrotter teams performing simultaneously throughout
39:30the world, giving even more Hoopers a chance to showcase their unique talents and bring
39:35enjoyment to children around the globe.
39:37It can go on forever as long as you have that good marriage between basketball and comedy.
39:43The Harlem Globetrotters will go on through gritted teeth, unrest, and disdain for management.
39:49The time-worn machine that inhales and exhales talent shows no signs of stopping.
39:54It would be great to see the Globetrotters with some sort of union or some sort of organization
40:01to make sure that any Globetrotter that comes past is taking care of life.
40:08Because it further develops the community, it further develops the ideology, and it makes
40:14sure that those who are watching that are young to see that you're not going to be taken
40:21advantage of as a minority.
40:26We want to see the organization just be mindful of what the players are going through.
40:31Even the people in upper management, they get to go home.
40:34They're never on the road for nine months out of the year.
40:37So they don't understand that.
40:39So listen to the players.
40:42Listen to some of these challenges that they're having and be empathetic to those.
40:47As we speak, Special K is trying to start an alumni association so retired players can
40:52gather and bring positive change to their former organization while continuing to find
40:56opportunities to inspire the next generation.
41:00He also runs a daily speakers academy, helping players transition from pro sports to the
41:05real world.
41:06I'm not going to lie that I was hurting, that I couldn't play anymore.
41:12So I had to try to stay in the basketball game.
41:18I started my own basketball academy.
41:21For 16 years and running, Curly Boo has been one of the most highly sought after trainers
41:25of NCAA and NBA talent in the state of Illinois.
41:30If I was a CEO for the Harlem Globetrotters, I would set a pillar of healthy foundational
41:35core values.
41:37Are we training our teammates and our organizational employees the right way?
41:42And are we giving them the resource, the benefits and the fair pay that they deserve based on
41:47the grooming schedule and what they're being asked to do?
41:50Today, Chris Wallace is back home, mentoring and coaching youth basketball programs, teaching
41:56them the values of good sportsmanship and being responsible student-athletes.
42:02So many things in my life, be it childhood, be it with the organization, be it within
42:08my personal loss, I felt like it was time to just do what I've always done, which is
42:16help people.
42:17So I started doing school events, speaking engagements at schools, and I started a Dare
42:24to Dream tour to teach kids how to dare to dream while living the nightmare.
42:29Who better to do that than me?
42:33I think my granddad, who means everything to me, he would probably say, you're doing
42:40what I taught you to do.
42:42You're doing what you and your, you know, me and your mom taught you to do, which is
42:45stand up for yourself, believe in yourself, put people first.
42:52The last conversation I ever had with my grandfather, he passed away while I was on the road.
42:56I was rushing in the airport, in Atlanta airport, and I'm on the phone on the Nextel at the
43:01time, and he's talking to me, I'm like, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, and at the time you could
43:04record the conversation so I can play it back and listen, because he was always dropping
43:09jewels.
43:10And he said to me, he said, just keep pressing.
43:11He said, yeah, you're going to make it, you're going to make it.
43:16The Harlem Globetrotter players, as of March 2024, still have no union.
43:21The Harlem Globetrotter website indicates new hires receive medical and financial benefits.
43:26However, it remains unclear who negotiates on behalf of the athletes.
43:31And players can still be terminated without warning.
43:35Today, the Globetrotters continue to bring their band of basketball to millions of fans
43:40around the world, with over 400 games played a year in more than 25 countries, with annual
43:45revenues approaching $50 million.