The Harlem Globetrotters played their first game 88 years ago on January 7, 1927, far from Harlem in Hinckley, Illinois. In fact, the “Harlem” thing was a marketing gimmick by owner-coach Abe Saperstein, who tried to expand the appeal of the team, which originally toured Illinois and Iowa as the Savoy Big Five. Saperstein decided to name them the “New York Harlem Globe Trotters,” since he thought the out-of-town name would sound exotic to local crowds, and because Harlem was the center of black culture in a time when basketball was a white man’s game.

If the “Harlem” part was made up (the team wouldn’t play its first game in Harlem until 1968), the “Globetrotters” part wasn’t. As they gained popularity, the team hit the road. They played nine games in Moscow at the height of the Cold War in 1959, and have played in 120 countries. The Globetrotters were one of the best teams in the country in their early days, and have been called the first professional basketball team. But after the NBA began drafting black players in the 1950s, they lost some of their best talent.

They developed a new gimmick, combining showy displays of skills, like juggling balls and spinning them on their fingertips, with silly gimmicks like water buckets, all to the tune of “Sweet Georgia Brown,” which became their theme song. But while the Globetrotters are primarily an entertainment franchise these days, they also put aside the tricks and return to their roots with some serious balling from time to time. During a college tour in 2003, the Trotters recorded wins over Division I powerhouses Michigan State and Syracuse, who were the defending national champions.

Over the years, various lineups touring as the Globetrotters have recorded over 22,000 wins against 345 losses, a clip of over 98% victories. (Granted the Washington Generals, who toured with the team for years as their hapless foils, aren’t the most sturdy yardstick to measure success against. The Generals beat the Globetrotters six times in over 40 years, dropping over 13,000 contests.)

The Harlem Globetrotters are hardly basketball at its most serious. But if all sports are entertainment at their core, the Globetrotters have embraced that idea with both arms. A Globetrotters game is a lot like a pro wrestling match: You might know it’s not entirely on the level, but it’s still fun to see how they set it up.

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