Reece “Goose” Tatum will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night, joining fellow Harlem Globetrotters Meadowlark Lemon and Marques Haynes. Tatum was famously known as the original “clown prince” of basketball (Lemon later was bestowed the honor), and pioneered some of the greatest hot dog moves fans associate with the Globetrotters and, in general, streetball.
Goose Tatum, Basketball’s ‘Clown Prince’, Enshrined In Basketball Hall Of Fame
In an op-ed for the New York Times published last week, NBA legend Oscar Robertson revealed that he had nominated Tatum for enshrinement this year.
Tatum created Globetrotters basketball as we know it today. From 1942 to 1954, except for two years of military service, he was the most popular player on the most popular team in the history of basketball. He was an unparalleled ambassador for the sport, performing for presidents, popes, kings and millions of fans all over the world. Even as they were denied equal rights at home, he and his teammates helped defuse cold-war tensions with a State Department tour of the Soviet Union.
Tatum passed away in 1967, and will be represented in Springfield by his family. Robertson nominated Tatum through the African-American Pioneers Committee, created by Hall director Jerry Colangelo. Tatum will be the first inductee to go through that committee.
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