The legendary Meadowlark Lemon, known as the clown prince of basketball, was more than just a baller in his day. He was the definition of an icon. Lemon wrote his name as a professional basketball player in the sands of time. His charisma on the court made him a fan favorite as he charmed his spectators throughout his career. Basketball couldn’t be more fun if he was there.
Lemon is a well-known name in the world of sports and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. During his highly successful career with the Globetrotters, the great baller played in more than 7,500 consecutive games and covered more than four million miles. He played in about 100 countries.
Besides playing soccer, Lemon also tried his hand at acting and was ordained a Christian minister in 1986.
Meadowlark Lemon, Bio, Height
The basketball great Meadow Lemon III was professionally known as Meadowlark Lemon. He was born on April 25, 1932, in Wilmington, North Carolina, and attended Williston Industrial School, where he graduated in 1952. Shortly after enrolling at Florida A&M University, he was drafted into the United States Army and served for two years in Austria and West Germany.
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The Beginning Of An Era
Lemon’s passion for basketball inspired him to make his first basketball hoop from an onion sack and a hanger. He then sank his first 2-point basket with the help of an empty clove milk can, which served him like a ball. His dream came true in 1954 when Lemon applied for the Globetrotters at the age of 22. After playing thousands of games for the Globetrotters, Lemon left the team in 1980 to form one of his Globetrotters impersonators, the Bucketeers, with whom he played until 1983, before joining the Shooting Stars from 1984 to 1987.
After forming his own touring team – Meadowlark Lemon’s Harlem All-Stars – in 1988, Lemon returned to the Globetrotters and played a total of 50 games with them in 1994.
Apparently, his skill on and off the court did not go unrewarded, as in 2000 Lemon received the John Bunn Award, the highest award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame outside of induction. Three years later he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
As a professional baller, Lemon stands tall at 191 cm (6ft 3in).
Acting And TV Career
In the late 1970s and early 80s, he was part of the cast of a short-lived sitcom called Hello, Larry. He also played the role of Reverend Grady Jackson in the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. Also in the 1970s, a cartoon version of Lemon, voiced by Scatman Crothers, starred with several other Globetrotters in the Hanna Barbera cartoon series of Harlem Globetrotters, including its offshoot, The Super Globetrotters.
Again, the baller, along with his other Globetrotters colleagues, performed live on the Saturday morning television show “The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine” from 1974-1975. He was also featured in the Grammy-nominated video Fun & Games, an interactive instructional video produced by Optical Programming Associates and Scholastic Productions in 1982.
Lemon appeared in several other shows and commercials, including a Burger King commercial, a Charmin toilet paper commercial alongside Mr. Whipple, and a number of others.
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An Ordained Christian Minister
If one can be guided by his abilities in the church, then Lemon was undoubtedly a born-again Christian. In particular, he appeared as a gospel singer in several Gaither homecoming videos. In fact, he became an ordained minister in 1986 and founded Meadowlark Lemon Ministries, Inc. He received his doctorate in Divinity from Vision International University in Ramona, California in 1988. He spent most of his final years in Scottsdale, Arizona, where his company Meadowlark Lemon Ministries, Inc. is located.
Meadowlark Lemon Net Worth and Cause Of Death
After his career as a professional basketball player, actor, and ordained minister, Lemon had a net worth of $2 million before his death.
The famous clown Prince of Basketball died on December 27, 2015, in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 83 years old at the time. His death has been confirmed by reliable sources, but the cause has not been revealed.
Meadowlark Lemon Children
It is his ten children who mourn the legend, including Richard, George, Beverly, Donna, Robin, Jonathan, Jamison, Angela, Crystal, and Caleb. Lemon was married to Willye and Cynthia twice in his life. The latter was with him until the day he died.
