'Showboat' Hall, Harlem Globetrotters' Ball-Handling Wizard, Dies

Robert “Showboat” Hall became the front man for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1955. (Photo: Harlem Globetrotters)

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Few players in the history of the Harlem Globetrotters could dazzle an audience quite like Detroit native Robert “Showboat” Hall, who died Dec. 24 in a Grosse Pointe hospital.

His wife, Kittie Barksdale-Hall, said he had cancer. He was 87.

Among legions of fans, Hall was known as a ball-handling wizard and comic grandstander, and for his athleticism and durability, the Los Angeles Times wrote.

The 6-foot, 2-inch pivot guard started with the Globetrotters in 1949, played in more than 5,000 games and provoked side-splitting laughs in 90 countries before retiring in 1974.

“Their humor transcends boundaries,” LA Times sportswriter Jim Murray wrote in a 1994 column about the team. “You mention the Harlem Globetrotters and everybody smiles.”

The exhibition basketball team is credited with helping to launch big-league professional basketball, a largely segregated sport when Hall joined the team in the mid-20th Century.

At the height of the Cold war in 1959, he traveled with the Globetrotters to the heart of the Soviet Union, helping to bridge a cultural gap many thought would stand forever. The historic tour was chronicled in the ESPN Films documentary “From Harlem With Love.”

“Hall’s dedication to the team, to his craft and to bringing joy to families around the world is matched by few people in the history of the organization,” the team’s chief executive, Kurt Schneider, said in a news release.

Hall joined the team in 1949 and became the top showman in 1955, replacing Reece “Goose” Tatum. He played alongside some grea names in professional basketball – Tatum, Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins and Marques Haynes, to name a few – and became both player and coach in 1968, a role he continued in until his retirement.

A star basketball player at Miller HIgh School, he perfected his skills at Brewster Center, a training ground of many top-notch Motor City athletes.

Hall was honored by the Globetrotters with the team’s “Legends” Ring – presented to those who have made a contribution outside of basketball and played a role in the development of the Globetrotters brand – during a special halftime ceremony at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Feb. 1, 1998.