Globetrotter legend shares message of dreams and joy
In town for an art project, Meadowlark Lemon, the "Clown Prince of Basketball" preached at an Oldsmar church on Sunday morning.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published March 14, 2005
OLDSMAR - For the Rev. Wayne Lacognata, what happened was as incredible as a perfect hook shot from halfcourt.
For two years, he had prayed for more people to come to his small Pentecostal church.
Then, about two weeks ago, he got an unexpected phone call.
It was Meadowlark Lemon's daughter, who asked if the former Harlem Globetrotter could preach at Lacognata's church.
"I said, "He can come today if he wants,"' Lacognata said.
Lacognata, who had never met Lemon's daughter, was still incredulous as he introduced one of the most famous people in the history of basketball on Sunday to the congregation at Lighthouse Assembly of God, which is tucked in a strip mall in an industrial area of Oldsmar.
"I got to see him live 19 years ago, not on a court, but in a church," Lacognata told them. "He cared about people. He solidified my walk with Christ."
Wearing a brown suit and burnt orange tie, the 6-foot-6 Lemon, known as the "Clown Prince of Basketball," picked up his Bible, rose to his feet and walked to the pulpit.
He introduced the church to his two children, including a daughter who lives in Clearwater, and four grandchildren.
Lemon, famous for his near-perfect hook shot from halfcourt and wraparound pass, lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was in the Tampa Bay area to participate in a new art project that will bear his name.
He said that when he was a boy in North Carolina, he didn't go to church.
Instead, he found a different kind of religion when at 11, he went to the Ritz Theater and saw the Harlem Globetrotters for the first time. He said he knew immediately that he wanted to play basketball.
"Don't put down small beginnings," Lemon said. "I started with a beat-up onion sack and a coat hanger for my basket. My basketball had holes in it. I stuffed rags in it" to hold the air in.
Born on April 25, 1935, Lemon graduated from Wiliston High School in Wilmington, N.C., in 1952. He went on to play for the Globetrotters from 1957 to 1979, becoming a household name for his slapstick antics, such as his confetti-in-the-water-bucket routine.
After retiring, he returned to the team in 1994 for 50 games.
He also played for the Bucketeers from 1980 to 1983, the Shooting Stars from 1984 to 1987 and the Meadowlark Lemon Harlem All-Stars from 1988 to 1998.
He has traveled to more than 70 countries in his 30-year career, and performed for two popes.
Once, in 1982, after thousands of games and decades of the good life, he was flying from Ecuador to Los Angeles when he felt God wanted him to pay a visit to a woman named Heide.
Heide was a friend, a Jewish woman who had become a born-again Christian.
After talking to her, Lemon decided to give his life over to Jesus. He earned a doctorate in divinity and founded the non-profit Meadowlark Lemon Ministries Inc., which provides evangelical outreach, an anticrime children's TV show, hospital visits, prison visits and praise concerts among other Christ-oriented services.
Team Meadowlark also sponsors the Meadowlark Lemon Harlem All Stars, an "all-Christian comedic basketball team" that plays for charity.
"He (God) gave me all the things of the world to reach people," Lemon said of his fame. "God told me to preach joy. He told me to bless the children."
Warm and engaging, Lemon sang a gospel song, and gently put his hand on the shoulder of a woman in a wheelchair in the front row.
"My message today is visions and dreams," he said. "Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Now, there are a lot of people who say wait a minute, God, you don't know my neighbor. He is one ugly neighbor. There are a lot of people I don't like, but I love them in the Lord."
During the service, he asked all the young athletes to come to the pulpit.
He put his hand on each child.
"I want to bless you today," he told them. "I want to pass the mantle to you, not just as an athlete, but as a man of God."
He told them he retired just 16 games away from reaching the 10,000 mark. He challenged youths to fulfill their dreams and said he is working on one of his own: He is determined to get back on the court.
"My gift turned into my calling," Lemon said. "I've been able to bring this message all over the world."
--Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com