Globetrotters: How a Chicago team changed basketball and helped win the Cold War

Despite their name, the Harlem Globetrotters actually got their start in Chicago. It was an unlikely partnership between a young, 5’3” Jewish entrepreneur named Abe Saperstein and a collection of younger Black basketball players from the South Side. From barns to ballrooms to arenas filled to the brim, the Globetrotters brought basketball to towns that barely had any organized sports. Along the way, they showed the promise of Black talent and achievement in a country that largely treated them as second-class citizens. Persevering through discrimination, they won over crowds with a mix of tricks and talent – along the way changing the landscape of race relations and American sports. Marc Jacobs, author and former editor for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, tells the unlikely tale of Abe Saperstein rising from fledgling team founder to pioneer of modern entertainment. Through ingenuity, a few tall tales and plenty of courage, Saperstein took basketball around the world, proving the unifying power of sports to bring people together.