Is the NBA ready for … the Harlem Globetrotters?

The squad first assembled in the summer, a group of talented high-school pals from Chicago who thought they were good enough to go out and take on all comers … by the New Year they’d hooked up with a 24-year-old promoter/hustler to book their games and serve as their bench coach.

Thus were born the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters, taking the court as such for the very first time on January 7, 1927, in a place called Hinckley, Illinois. It’s said the players were paid $75 apiece for that game and would go on to play in excess of 1,000 games all across the Midwest over the next decade, winning consistently (close to 90%) and entertainingly. In 1939, the team would finish second (to the New…