Basketball is an art form that those lucky enough to master have the opportunity to leave their mark on.
Through personal flair and creative expression, the court transforms from simply a recreational setting to one of a canvas.
Perhaps no team embodies this spirit of basketball quite like the Harlem Globetrotters, who’ve molded athleticism and entertainment into perfect harmony.
The team attended the San Francisco Giants game on Wednesday, and got to meet some of the players before the game. Naturally, the subject of Stephen Curry came up.
The Warriors are the Bay Area’s team, and no player on the squad electrifies the region with his shooting and dribbling skills like Curry.
“He would do just fine as a Globetrotter,” said team member Shane Christensen. “And we do have a 4-point shot.”
The Globetrotters use a 4-point line that’s located 35 feet away from the basket, almost 12 feet further back from the NBA 3-point line.
Over the years, Curry has definitely proven that he has range to that 4-point line, and might be the only NBA player who could consistently hit 4-pointers within that context.
Christensen is also known as “Scooter,” and has taken it upon himself to try to mimic Curry’s pre-game dribbling ritual with the two balls. Even for a dribbling expert like Scooter, it’s extremely difficult.
Scooter holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time spinning a basketball on his nose at 7.7 seconds.
The Globetrotters are part athletes and part comic actors, and Scooter thinks that Curry would be perfect for the role.
“I always tell people: when you see the nice tricks, that’s just part of being a Globetrotter,” said Scooter. “You have to be a good people-person. You can tell off the court that Curry’s a good family guy with a great attitude.”
Curry certainly wouldn’t be the first NBA player to suit up with the Globetrotters. Wilt Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins both played for them before their NBA careers.
Those two were legends, but more obscure players like Jerome James and Jamario Moon have also been Globetrotters.
James played for them during the NBA lockout in 1998, having been drafted by the Kings that Summer in the second round.
Moon had played in the NBA Development League before joining the Globetrotters in 2004, but hadn’t yet played in the NBA.
It’s a perfect representation of the evolution of basketball mystique: no longer is it the high flying dunkers in vogue, but shooters and dribblers who still defy what’s possible, but just closer to the ground.
None of these guys had played in the NBA and then made the transition to being a Globetrotter, though. It was always a stepping stone.
Curry is too wrapped up in trying to win more championships with the Warriors right now, so any Globetrotter endeavors might have to be put aside until the twilight of his career.
Even so, it’s extremely flattering when an actual Globetrotter says that you’re Globetrotter material, although anybody who has watched even a few Warriors games had probably already realized that Curry would fit in well with them.