Goose Tatum

Reece "Goose" Tatum (May 31, 1921 – January 18, 1967) was an African American multi-sport athlete.

Born in El Dorado, Arkansas, Tatum played Negro League Baseball before becoming a star basketball player with the Harlem Globetrotters. He is considered to be the original "clown prince" of the Trotters. He wove numerous comic routines into his play, of which many would reach cult status. Some of these routines were based on his stature -- it is reported that he had an arm span of about 84 inches and could touch his kneecaps without bending.

He is credited with having invented the hook shot, sometimes called the skyhook, a shot for which superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would become famous.

Sixty years after his first season, the Harlem Globetrotters retired jersey number 50, worn by Reece "Goose" Tatum, and inducted him into the Globetrotters’ “Legends” Ring, on Feb. 8, 2002, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Tatum played with the Globetrotters during the 1941-42 season, then was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After he completed his tour, Tatum came back to play with the team for a total of 12 seasons. He was the "Clown Prince" of the Globetrotters and was considered by many to be the template for future comics and one of the best Showmen in team history.

Tatum started his career in the 1940s as a baseball player for the Birmingham Black Barons and the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro National League. It was during this time that he started clowning around on the field to amuse the crowds. Once Globetrotters’ founder Abe Saperstein spotted Tatum's antics, he knew he wanted Tatum to play for his team. When he joined the Globetrotters, Tatum brought his natural athletic ability, uncannily accurate hook shot and comedic timing and applied them to basketball.

He loved to entertain and often said, "My goal in life is to make people laugh." Laugh they did, whether he was playing hide and seek with the referee or substituting the real basketball with a trick one.

Tatum's jersey #50 is one of only four numbers to be retired by the Globetrotters.

Reece Tatum died in 1967 at the age of forty-five in El Paso, Texas. He is interred in the Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

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Categories: Harlem Globetrotters | African Americans

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