Meadowlark Lemon, the most famous face and “clown prince” of the Harlem Globetrotters, died Sunday at age 83 in Scottsdale, Arizona, The New York Times reported. The North Carolina native, known for his comedic timing, on-court pranks, and virtuoso basketball skills, played with the Globetrotters for 22 years. He left the team in 1978. In that time, Lemon is said to have played in 16,000 games in 100 countries (including in Moscow at the height of the Cold War), and became a pop-culture mainstay with appearances in The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, Gilligan’s Island, and Scooby-doo.
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