Meadowlark Lemon: Difference between revisions
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==Cultural references== |
==Cultural references== |
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{{In popular culture|section=y|date=March 2012}} |
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In [[Jurassic 5]]'s 1998 self titled debut [[Jurassic 5 album|album]], the 5th track 'Concrete Schoolyard' features a reference by [[Chali 2na]], rapping "Forever Winning I'm in it Like Medowlark Lemon". |
In [[Jurassic 5]]'s 1998 self titled debut [[Jurassic 5 album|album]], the 5th track 'Concrete Schoolyard' features a reference by [[Chali 2na]], rapping "Forever Winning I'm in it Like Medowlark Lemon". |
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Revision as of 21:14, 25 March 2012
Meadowlark Lemon | |
|---|---|
 Meadowlark shooting at an exhibition game on an aircraft carrier | |
| Born | Meadow Lemon April 25, 1932 Wilmington, North Carolina, United States |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Known for | The Harlem Globetrotters |
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
Meadow "Meadowlark" Lemon[1] (born April 25, 1932) is an American basketball player, actor, and minister. For 22 years, Lemon was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters and is a 2003 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and attended Florida A&M University.
Career
Lemon first applied to the Globetrotters in 1954 at age 22, finally being chosen to play the following year (1955). In 1980, he left to form one of his Globetrotters imitators, the Bucketeers. He played with that team until 1983, then moved on to play with the Shooting Stars from 1984 to 1987. In 1988, he moved on to "Meadowlark Lemon's Harlem All Stars" team.[1] Despite being with his own touring team, Lemon returned to the Globetrotters, playing 50 games with them in 1994.
In 2000, Lemon received the John Bunn Award, the highest honor given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame outside of induction. He was inducted into the hall three years later.
On May 18, 2009, it was announced that Lemon had become the new partial owner of the Smoky Mountain Jam of the American Basketball Association.[2]
Personal life
Lemon has 10 children: Richard, George, Beverly, Donna, Robin, Jonathan (a.k.a. Meadowlark, Jr.), Jamison, Angela, Crystal and Caleb. He is now currently an assistant football coach at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Lemon is married to Dr. Cynthia Lemon, a practitioner of naturopathy.
His son, George, was initially christened "Meadow" by his wife while Lemon was on the road with the Globetrotters. Lemon, citing the hard time he'd had growing up with his unusual name, persuaded his wife to change the boy's name to George.[3]
A born-again Christian, Lemon became an ordained minister in 1986 and received a Doctor of Divinity degree from Vision International University in Ramona, California, in 1988. He resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, where his Meadowlark Lemon Ministries, Inc. and Meadowlark Lemon's Harlem All Stars maintain an office.[1]
Other work
Meadowlark starred in the 1979 Educational geography film Meadowlark Lemon Presents the World. Also in 1979, he joined the cast of the short-lived TV sit-com Hello, Larry in season two, to help boost the show's ratings.
Cultural references
 |
In Jurassic 5's 1998 self titled debut album, the 5th track 'Concrete Schoolyard' features a reference by Chali 2na, rapping "Forever Winning I'm in it Like Medowlark Lemon".
In the 2003 film I Spy, the characters played by Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson reference Lemon and other Globetrotters as a metaphor as to which of them would be the leader of their mission and which would take a sidekick role.
In the season one The Boondocks episode "The Itis", the character of Granddad mistakenly thinks Meadowlark Memorial Park is named for Meadowlark Lemon.
In a season six episode of How I Met Your Mother, James (played by Wayne Brady) claims his mother once told him that Meadowlark Lemon was his biological father—though she also mentioned several other celebrities over the years.
In the season one The Cleveland Show episode "Da Doggone Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance", Cleveland runs over the family dog, named Meadowlark Lemon.
In The Adventures of Pete and Pete episode "On Golden Pete", the Wrigley family mentions being famous "like Meadowlark Lemon" numerous times.
In, Two and a Half Men, season 9 episode 19 (2012), Evelyn claims to have had a relationship with Lemon saying, "Basketballs weren't the only thing he could spin."