Harlem Globetrotters bouncing back to Cleveland for Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse shows

The Silent Harlem Globetrotters are back for over a year with their world-famous ankle-breaking moves, stunning shots and edge-to-edge dipping.

For veteran and Columbus player Julian “Zeus” McClurkin, my time away from the field has been surreal.

“It felt a little weird last year, but I’m really excited to be back,” said McClurkin, who over the past year has also become a real estate agent in his spare time. “This is something I’ve been doing for 11 years now. All the gyms are closed, so I’ve been training at home just trying to stay in shape.

“I never had a collar, unless I counted the Little Tikes I bought for my son. I was doing a trick with him. Then as soon as I opened those gyms, I got into every league imaginable in Columbus. Now that we’re back, it’s something we’ve all been looking forward to” .

The Harlem Globetrotters “Reimagined Spread Game Tour” will be stopping in Cleveland for two shows on December 28 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

When asked how long it took him to feel normal on the court again, McClurkin demonstrated his confident personality, which not only made him make the North Carolina State University A&T basketball team a walking tour, but later when the Globetrotter set three Guinness World Records titles : Most basketball games dunks in one minute, with a score of 16; Most three-pointers are bounced in one minute and five throws; Most three-pointers are behind their backs, with three throws.

“Oh, man, I haven’t stopped being Zeus,” McClurkin laughed. “I think it was instant. I didn’t have any rust to remove. My style of basketball has always been just to enjoy myself when I’m on the move.

“Win or lose, I always have a great time. The great thing with Globetrotters is that we never lose.”

You can expect plenty of immersion when the Harlem Globetrotters come to town. (Marcus Ingram)

When it comes to modern basketball, NBA players not only try, they shoot the ball off the edge.

Basketball fans may be fascinated by the deep threes, but the Harlem Globetrotters have been tossing it out of downtown with a decades-old high shot ratio. And McClurkin knew it was only a matter of time before the NBA took hold.

“We’ve teamed with (Golden State Warriors) Steve (Carrey) and Clay (Thompson) before,” McClorkin said. “We introduced them to our four-point shot, which is 35 feet from the basket.

“Klay made his first try like it was a football pitch. We asked him if he thought this had any place in the NBA game. He said, ‘Sure, but only teams like him would benefit from that.”

Globetrotting attracts a lot of high-flying. (Marcus Ingram)

In fact, McClurkin took it a step further, detailing exactly how the Harlem Globetrotters affected the professional league.

“If I see something in the Globetrotter, it will eventually be in the NBA as well,” McClurkin said. “Think about it—we invented the knockout, the three-point line, the alley line and the three-man weave.

“It’s all been popularized by the Harlem Globetrotters quite widely, and these are all things that have been implemented in other professional leagues.”

So does that mean one day we’ll see a beloved three-point shot from McClurkin?

“Let’s do it,” McClurkin laughed. “How many points should be worth? I’m thinking of at least four.”