Harlem Globetrotters bring their basketball showmanship to Rio Rancho

RIO RANCHO —Early on in his basketball career, Julian McClurkin was saddled with the dreaded “too nice” label.

This assessment came not long after he was cut repeatedly during every tryout he attended between seventh and 10th grade.

“I didn’t actually make my first team until the 11th grade,” he said. “When I did finally make it, a lot of my coaches at that point were saying the same thing: They said I was too nice and I smiled too much. Basketball was no place for a guy like me who was so kind and didn’t have that killer instinct.

“I used that as my motivation. I wanted to show everybody that you don’t have to be a mean dude to be successful in this sport.”

Harlem Globetrotters bring their basketball showmanship to Rio Rancho

Fast-forward to the present day, and McClurkin’s affable demeanor remains the same — but his dunks are pretty mean. His rim-rattling calling card earned him the “Zeus” moniker with the Harlem Globetrotters, one of the most famous (and longest-running) basketball outfits in the world. McClurkin will be part of the show when the Globetrotters visit the Rio Rancho Events Center on Friday, Feb. 28, for a game against their traditionally hapless rival, the Washington Generals.

While the Generals are typically known for being highlight-reel fodder, McClurkin is living proof that stereotypes don’t always hold true. That’s because “Zeus,” the man who holds the Guinness World Record for most dunks in one minute (16), was once a General himself. In that role, McClurkin made a strong impression on the Globetrotters, as he says, by “dunking the mess out of the ball.”

One thing led to another, and McClurkin went from tryouts to alternate to a full-fledged member of the team. Now he’s entering his 15th year as a Globetrotter. It was from the losing side of those Generals vs. Globetrotters games that McClurkin saw his destiny.

“I looked at these guys and girls who were getting paid to do the very thing that I was getting scrutinized for my whole career,” he said. “One dude told me, ‘All you do is smile and dunk, that’s all you do.’ Today, I get paid to smile and dunk. I get an opportunity to be myself on the basketball court because the Globetrotters encompass everything I already was as a person. It was kind of a match made in heaven.”

A Globetrotters game isn’t necessarily geared toward the basketball diehards. Each experience features plenty of fan interaction, fancy dribbling, 4-point shots, gravity-defying dunks — and more.

“This is for all ages, all sizes. It’s 9 to 99 years old,” he said. “Everybody will have a great time at our show, whether you like basketball or not. What you can expect is just to have a good time. You’re going to see the high-flying slam dunks, the half-court trick shots. But also crowd participation that’s really unrivaled in sports.

“Even at the end of the game we have a session called the fifth quarter. That’s where you get a chance to come down to the court and meet your favorite Harlem Globetrotters. We’ll take pictures, sign autographs and have a moment with our fans.”

As a long-tenured Globetrotter, McClurkin has earned the title of Showman, which means he wears a microphone and helps to keep the audience engaged. It’s a role once held by some of the most famous Globetrotters — think Meadowlark Lemon, Marques Haynes, Curly Neal and Sweet Lou Dunbar. He’s also been known to bounce a 3-pointer into the hoop (it’s another record he owns) or fire a shot from the stands. The other men and women on the team have their own specialties. Poland’s Dazzle Kidon, for example, is known for his ball-handling wizardry and holds the Guinness record for most consecutive catches of a spinning basketball (26).

“All the stuff a normal kid would get subbed out of the game for showboating or doing too much — those are the things we get a chance to do on the daily,” McClurkin said.

These days, McClurkin’s smiles are returned in spades.

“We’ve been around for 99 years … When people see the red, white and blue basketball, it takes them back to a time in their life when they went to a game with their parents or their grandparents,” he said. “Even though they don’t know who I am individually, they recognize the brand and it brings a smile to their face. Being able to be a part of something that brings a smile to somebody’s face, that’s impactful for me.”