GLOBETROTTER FACTOIDS GLOBETROTTER FACTOIDS This is the Globetrotters 82nd consecutive year of touring the world. They have played in 118 countries on six continents (all except Antarctica so far), and have played live before more than 125 million fans.



The Globetrotters are one of only six teams to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (2003).



Five Globetrotters jerseys have been retired, Wilt Chamberlain (13), Meadowlark Lemon (36), Marques Haynes (20), Reece "Goose" Tatum (50) and Curly Neal (22), whose jersey will be retired on Friday, Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden. Haynes and Tatum were both key members of the 1948 team that beat the Minneapolis Lakers in Chicago.



Eight dignitaries have received "honorary Globetrotter" status: Henry Kissinger (1976), Bob Hope (1977), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1989), Whoopi Goldberg (1990), Nelson Mandela (1996), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1999), Pope John Paul II (2000) and Jesse Jackson (2001).



January 5, 1971 marks the last time the Globetrotters have lost to a Red Klotz-led team. Klotz, at the time the 50-year-old player/coach of the New Jersey Reds, hit a buzzer-beating shot in Martin , Tenn., to hand the Globetrotters a 100-99 loss. Since then, the Globetrotters have beaten Klotz' Washington Generals (known as the New York Nationals from 1995 through 2007) in more than 12,500 straight games. Before there was Wilt Chamberlain or the Boston Celtics dynasty, there was Marques Haynes and the Harlem Globetrotters. In an epic matchup 60 years ago, Haynes led the Globetrotters to a stunning victory against the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers. "I don't think anyone had any idea it would be such a landmark moment," says Haynes, 81. On Feb 19, 1948, the Globetrotters upset the world champion Lakers 61-59 in Chicago as a crowd of 17,823 watched an all-black team against an all-white team. "What made this so significant," says Ben Green, author of Spinning the Globe: The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters, "was Mikan and that it was the Lakers and that they were the dominant white team. They were the best white team in the country playing the best black team in the country. "It's clearly the most important game in Globetrotters history." Haynes, who played for the Globetrotters from 1947-53 and 1972-79 and is regarded as one of the world's finest dribblers, says it was their opponent that made the game so significant. "We've been playing against white teams all along," he says "We just hadn't played against the caliber teams, like the Lakers or the Rochester Royals." The Lakers were the most successful franchise at the time, led by the game's first dominant big man. The Globetrotters could now lay claim that they were the best team in the country — and the world. A rematch was played Feb. 28, 1949. The Globetrotters were riding a 113-game winning streak and once again beat the Lakers 49-45. They met once more in 1949, with Mikan and the Lakers prevailing. The game also proved that black players could compete at a high-level. Professional leagues started incorporating black players into the previously all-white teams. In 1950, three former Globetrotters — Sweetwater Clifton, Chuck Cooper and Earl Lloyd — became the first black players on NBA teams. "That game opened up doors," says current Globetrotters showman Special K Daley, "not only for me, but for Michael Jordan and every player that you know right now that's playing in the NBA." The team, founded in 1927 in Chicago, has played in more than 20,000 games in 182 countries. They have since become a family show. "Nowadays we don't play for the wins or losses," says Daley. "We play strictly for entertainment for the fans enjoyment." So what are the chances of a possible rematch? "We would be a fabulous NBA team," says Curly Neal, team ambassador and former player. "It's happened before. I'm pretty sure it will happen again." Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant would welcome the exhibition. "Sure, why not," he says. "I think we would have a good chance (at winning)." Enlarge Harlem Globetrotters Lakers center George Mikan challenges the Globetrotters' Sweetwater Clifton during their game on Feb. 28, 1949. The stars from Harlem won 49-45, following up a victory over the world champions just days earlier, on Feb. 19. Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.