(Source Washington Post)
By Katie Shepherd
During a 1978 basketball game in Sierra Vista, Ariz., Fred “Curly” Neal tossed the ball hot-potato-style to the referee before chucking it to a teammate to set up a layup. After sinking a three-pointer from just past half-court, he strutted past the opposing team’s bench with a huge smile across his face. The other team laughed along with him, and the stadium, filled with awestruck children, erupted in cheers.
This was Curly Neal, No. 22, at the height of his career with the Harlem Globetrotters. For decades, Neal amazed crowds with his nimble dribbling skills, keeping the ball bouncing even as he dropped to his knees, spun around in circles and sprang back to his feet. Audiences roared as his bald head bobbed up and down the court, a playful grin spread across his face while he sank shot after shot.
That was how the legend was remembered for decades. Neal, the longtime Harlem Globetrotters point guard, died Thursday at age 77 at his home outside Houston. The official cause of death was not immediately announced.
Soon after the announcement, basketball fans recalled their favorite memories of Neal in online tributes featuring footage of his ballhandling skills and humorous antics on the court. Some recalled the impact that the team, led by Neal from 1963 to 1985, had on the sport and black communities in America.
“Before the Internet and cable television really existed, it was Curly Neal and the Harlem Globetrotters who first introduced the sport of basketball to millions of people around the world for the first time,” the team said in a statement announcing the death. “One of the truly magical dribblers and shooters in basketball history, Neal fittingly played for 22 seasons in the red, white and blue, wearing No. 22.”
During the Jim Crow era and long afterward, the Harlem Globetrotters sought to prove themselves to a sometimes skeptical public.
“The players of the Harlem Globetrotters were similar to a lot of Black men in that generation — people with enormous talent who couldn’t always show their talent and had to suffer great indignity just to keep food on the table,” President Barack Obama said in a 2009 interview shared by the team. “And the strength and determination of that generation just to survive, laid the groundwork for people like myself.”
Born on May 19, 1942, in Greensboro, N.C., Neal played high school ball and was a star in college at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. But he didn’t join the NBA after college, despite having offers from several teams. Instead, he tried out for the Harlem Globetrotters and made the team.
Neal earned his Globetrotters nickname, Curly, because of his signature shaved head. When Neal began playing for the Globetrotters, he said, Coach Bobby Milton called him “Curly” as a joke, in reference to Three Stooges member Curly Howard. The name stuck, and so did the hairstyle.
Once Neal joined the team in the early ’60s, it didn’t take long for him to recognize the role his team played in helping Black Americans gain rights and respect by traveling all over the world to showcase their skills, humor and humanity. He once recalled being told about the sour reception the team faced before he joined them, when they played a 1957 game in Jacksonville, Fla., but were turned away by restaurants and hotels that refused to serve black customers. Meanwhile, a performing chimp visiting the city at the same time was allowed to stay in a ritzy hotel suite.
“Here they were, the Harlem Globetrotters, America’s most famous basketball team, unable to eat a meal or stay in a hotel room in Jacksonville,” Neal wrote in a 2016 op-ed for USA Today. “It’s a memory that is always at the forefront of my mind. We have come so far since then. Yet, even with so much further to go, it’s amazing to me that we were a part of the push for change.”
The team won over hearts and minds with its showy style and in-game antics. Donning his No. 22, Neal was a star of the Globetrotters for more than two decades, and their popularity landed them story lines on TV shows such as “Scooby-Doo” and “Gilligan’s Island,” where Neal and his teammates outplayed a bunch of robots. The team was a regular fixture on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” for much of Neal’s career.
With the death of @Globies legend Curly Neal, we should all remember the most important moment of his life/the history of the earth: With Chick Hearn calling the game and life in the balance, Globetrotters 101, Robots 100. Gilligan’s Island saved. #curlyneal
Honoring the passing of the Harlem Globetrotters’ Curly Neal. Thank you Curly, for a legacy of entertainment and joy on the court, screen and Gilligan’s Island, that will last as long as the confetti bucket gag. Which is to say, eternally.
After he retired in 1985, Neal continued to work with the team as an ambassador. His jersey number was retired in 2008, and he received the Harlem Globetrotters’s “Legends” ring for his contributions to the team.
As news of Neal’s death spread on Thursday, tributes to the beloved player abounded on social media. His admirers called him the “best dribbler ever,” “as fun to be around as he was to watch” and a “joy on the court.”
NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas praised Neal on Thursday for teaching him how to dribble.
“For those who say the game has evolved? I say what’s old is new again!” tweeted the Detroit Pistons legend. “Distance Shot making and dribbling is back!! #CurlyNeal and #MarcusHaynes taught me how to dribble.”
Although he had been retired for decades, Neal maintained a close relationship with his former team and remains one of the most admired Globetrotters to ever play.
“We have lost one of the most genuine human beings the world has ever known,” Globetrotters General Manager Jeff Munn said in a statement. “His basketball skill was unrivaled by most, and his warm heart and huge smile brought joy to families worldwide. He always made time for his many fans and inspired millions.”
Alongside his incredible dribbling and far-flung shots, Neal was known for his humorous bits on the court. In one common skit, he egged on an argument with a teammate asking for a sip of water, only to throw the water in the other player’s face. Then, his dripping foe would grab a bucket of water and chase Neal down, aiming to drench him, but miss and launch the bucket’s contents at the fans sitting courtside.
Luckily, the bucket was filled with confetti, not water, inspiring rings of laughter throughout the stadium.
Reflecting on his career in 2016, Neal said the joy he shared with his fans was something he cherished the most during his time as a Globetrotter.
“That’s why when I look at what has changed in this country, I don’t lament what is still wrong,” he wrote. “I think about how much has been accomplished and how a basketball team, its only mission to brighten the days of others, was a part of that.”
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