Meadowlark Lemon
Meadowlark Lemon | |
|---|---|
Lemon with the Harlem Globetrotters in 1975 | |
| Born | Meadow Lemon III April 25, 1932 |
| Died | December 27, 2015 (aged 83) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Basketball player, actor, minister |
| Known for | The Harlem Globetrotters |
| Spouse |
Cynthia Lemon (m. 1994–2015) |
| Children | 10 |
Meadowlark Lemon (born Meadow Lemon III; April 25, 1932 – December 27, 2015) was an American basketball player, actor, and Christian minister. For 22 years, he was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He was a 2003 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Ordained in 1986, in 1994 he started Meadowlark Lemon Ministries in Scottsdale, Arizona.
In one of his final interviews, basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain described Lemon as "the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I've ever seen". Fellow Wilmington great Michael Jordan called Lemon a "true national treasure" and a personal inspiration in Jordan's youth.