WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.820 So if we start talking about the skyhook. Oh, 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:08.220 yeah. You know, that high arcing, just completely 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:10.839 unblockable shot that drops from the heavens. 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:14.580 Your brain almost certainly defaults to one very 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:17.160 specific image. Right. You picture Kareem. Exactly. 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:19.760 You picture Kareem Abdul -Jabbar in the purple 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.780 and gold, just launching that thing over everyone. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.280 It's basically the default setting for basketball 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.579 history. I mean, it's iconic. It is. But the 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:30.280 sources we have in front of us today actually 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:32.179 tell a totally different origin story. Yeah, 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:35.200 they really do. They suggest that the move wasn't 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:38.359 invented by Kareem at all. It was actually the 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:40.939 signature weapon of a man who was doing it decades 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:43.799 earlier. A man who essentially built the blueprint 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:46.679 for what we now call sports entertainment. We 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:48.859 usually remember the person who perfected a technique 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:51.539 on TV. But you forget the innovator who built 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:53.880 it, you know, back in the barnstorming era. Exactly. 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:55.420 And in this case, we were talking about Reese 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:58.520 Tatum. Better known as Goose Tatum. So today 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:02.560 we're doing a deep dive into the life, the geometry, 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:05.840 and really the tragedy of Goose Tatum. We've 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.040 got a stack of biographical record, historical 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:11.439 data from the Wikipedia archives. And they paint 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:15.819 a picture of a guy who was, for a fleeting moment 00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:19.459 in the 1950s, the absolute... biggest star in 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:21.480 the basketball universe. And universe really 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:23.459 is the right word there because the NBA was just 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.079 a small planet back then. Right. The Globetrotters 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:28.239 were the entire galaxy. That's a great way to 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.599 put it. Our mission today is to unpack how a 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:33.579 kid from El Dorado, Arkansas, rose up to become 00:01:33.579 --> 00:01:36.140 the highest paid player in professional basketball. 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.659 Making more than the NBA champions of his day, 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.719 by the way. Which is wild. And then how that 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:43.120 incredible high was followed by a really sharp 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.640 and painful decline. It's a story about basketball, 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.239 sure. But it's really about the economics of 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:52.519 being a black celebrity in a segregated America. 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.739 Right. And it's about the physical toll of performing, 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.659 you know, 300 nights a year. So before we get 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:00.659 into the actual timeline, I feel like we have 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:02.980 to establish the physical reality of Goose Tatum. 00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:05.579 We have to. Because looking at the descriptions 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.319 in these archives, he didn't just look like a 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.599 basketball player. He looked like, well, he looked 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.719 like a special effect. He was a total... physiological 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:16.460 anomaly. He stood about six foot four. Which 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:19.560 is a very solid size for the 1940s. Right. But 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:22.740 the stat that jumps off the page is the arm span. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.900 The records report an arm span of approximately 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:30.740 84 inches. Wow. That is 210 centimeters. To put 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:32.939 that in modern terms, that's a seven foot wingspan 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:36.270 on a six foot four human. That's absurd. In today's 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:38.789 draft, combine scouts absolutely obsess over 00:02:38.789 --> 00:02:41.550 plus wingspan. You're usually thrilled if a guy 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:43.490 has arms two or three inches longer than his 00:02:43.490 --> 00:02:45.849 height. Yeah. Tatum was plus eight. The visual 00:02:45.849 --> 00:02:48.270 that really drives this home for me is this note 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:51.009 that he could reportedly touch his kneecaps without 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:53.189 bending at the waist. Just standing straight 00:02:53.189 --> 00:02:55.349 up. Imagine just standing perfectly straight 00:02:55.349 --> 00:02:57.110 and scratching your knees. It's wild to picture. 00:02:57.270 --> 00:02:59.689 But that physical structure completely dictates 00:02:59.689 --> 00:03:02.289 the play style. How so? Well, when you have levers 00:03:02.289 --> 00:03:05.449 that long, you can manipulate the ball in spaces 00:03:05.449 --> 00:03:08.550 that defenders physically cannot reach. It explains 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:11.310 the comedy and it explains the dominance. Let's 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:13.550 touch on that comedy aspect, actually, because 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:17.469 he is widely remembered as the clown prince of 00:03:17.469 --> 00:03:20.330 the Harlem Globetrotters. Right. Now, I did see 00:03:20.330 --> 00:03:22.689 in the notes that he technically wasn't the very 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:24.849 first person with that nickname. No, it was first 00:03:24.849 --> 00:03:26.610 applied to Jackie Beathard's, I think, back in 00:03:26.610 --> 00:03:30.389 1933. Exactly, 1933. But Tatum is the one who 00:03:30.389 --> 00:03:33.229 turned it into a global brand. He revolutionized 00:03:33.229 --> 00:03:37.259 the role entirely. Before Tatum... The comedy 00:03:37.259 --> 00:03:39.259 in basketball was often separate from the skill, 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.360 the gimmick. Right. A sideshow. Yeah. But Tatum 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:44.599 integrated them. Yeah. He realized that if he 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:46.780 could make the defender laugh or confuse them 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:49.599 with a pantomime routine, their guard went down. 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:51.960 And the second that guard drops. He uses that 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:54.860 massive wingspan to score. And that is exactly 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:57.120 where the sky hook comes in. Because it wasn't 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.599 just a trick shot. It was a necessity born out 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.939 of his body type. Think about the mechanics of 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:04.930 it. If you have arms that long. A standard jump 00:04:04.930 --> 00:04:07.189 shot might actually feel crowded. Oh, interesting. 00:04:07.530 --> 00:04:10.009 But a sweeping hook shot, you're releasing the 00:04:10.009 --> 00:04:13.150 ball so high and so far away from your body that 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.590 it's mathematically impossible to block without 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:18.250 a stepladder. It's the ultimate weapon wrapped 00:04:18.250 --> 00:04:21.050 in a joke. He's laughing, the crowd is laughing, 00:04:21.110 --> 00:04:23.689 and then swishy drops 30 points on you. And that 00:04:23.689 --> 00:04:26.949 duality between the serious elite athlete and 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:30.389 the comedian that defines his entire trajectory. 00:04:31.069 --> 00:04:33.189 So let's rewind to the beginning. Let's look 00:04:33.189 --> 00:04:35.689 at the timeline. Sure. He's born in El Dorado, 00:04:35.769 --> 00:04:39.730 Arkansas, May 31st, 1921. So there's a little 00:04:39.730 --> 00:04:42.170 dispute on the exact date in some sources. Yeah. 00:04:42.209 --> 00:04:45.629 Some say maybe May 3rd, but 1921 seems to be 00:04:45.629 --> 00:04:48.730 the solid consensus. Right. His father is a farmer 00:04:48.730 --> 00:04:51.110 and a preacher. What? And his mother is a domestic 00:04:51.110 --> 00:04:54.250 cook. So a classic working class Southern upbringing. 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:57.250 He was the fifth of seven kids. He goes to Booker 00:04:57.250 --> 00:04:59.250 T. Washington High School, and he's immediately 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:02.329 a three -sport star. Baseball, basketball, football. 00:05:02.509 --> 00:05:04.310 He could do it all. But interestingly, looking 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:06.769 at the archives, basketball wasn't even his primary 00:05:06.769 --> 00:05:09.629 path at first. It was baseball. Which was incredibly 00:05:09.629 --> 00:05:11.949 common for black athletes at the time. Really? 00:05:12.110 --> 00:05:13.990 Yeah. The infrastructure for professional baseball, 00:05:14.110 --> 00:05:16.629 specifically the Negro Leagues, was much more 00:05:16.629 --> 00:05:18.870 developed and lucrative than professional basketball 00:05:18.870 --> 00:05:22.250 in the late 30s. That makes sense. So he starts 00:05:22.250 --> 00:05:25.269 his pro career in 1937 in the Negro Leagues. 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:28.170 He plays for the Louisville Black Colonels, the 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:30.629 Memphis Red Sox, the Birmingham Black Barons. 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:33.209 All solid teams. But the team that really caught 00:05:33.209 --> 00:05:36.110 my eye in the data is the Indianapolis Clowns. 00:05:36.230 --> 00:05:40.050 Yes. That is such a crucial connection. Why is 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:42.470 that? Because the Indianapolis Clowns were to 00:05:42.470 --> 00:05:45.329 baseball what the Globetrotters were to basketball. 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:48.339 Oh, I see. They played... real high level baseball. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.740 I mean, Hank Aaron played for them just for context. 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:53.120 Wow. Hank Aaron. Right. But they mixed it with 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:56.000 top tier entertainment, shadow ball comedy routines. 00:05:57.139 --> 00:05:59.839 Tatum's basically learning the business of show 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:01.540 business right there on the baseball diamond. 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:04.180 That's a perfect training ground. So he's cutting 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:06.100 his teeth in the Negro Leagues and then like 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:09.399 almost every man of his generation, the war interrupts. 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:11.680 Yep. World War II. He serves in the United States 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:14.740 Army Air Forces. It creates this gap in his athletic 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:17.959 resume. But it also really matures that entire 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.220 generation. Definitely. And he comes out of the 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:23.379 service in 1942, and that is when the stars finally 00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:26.300 align for basketball. He signs with Abe Saperstein 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:28.639 and the Harlem Globetrotters. And this kicks 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.279 off an 11 -season run. that completely changes 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:34.720 the fabric of the sport. It really does. And 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:36.759 I want to pause here to talk about the money. 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:39.259 Oh, the money is fascinating. Because I think 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:41.639 we have this modern bias where we just assume 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:44.360 NBA players have always been the rich ones and 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:46.620 the Globetrotters were just bus riding performers 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:49.540 scraping by. That is a massive misconception. 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:52.079 In the 1950s, the NBA was really struggling. 00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:54.379 Yeah, they weren't the powerhouse they are now. 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.509 Not at all. It was highly regional. The game 00:06:57.509 --> 00:07:00.529 was slow, and they honestly couldn't fill arenas. 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:02.990 Meanwhile, the Globetrotters are out there selling 00:07:02.990 --> 00:07:05.310 out soccer stadiums in South America. They're 00:07:05.310 --> 00:07:07.509 playing in front of Popes. They're global icons. 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:10.500 And Tatum knew his worth. When he was eventually 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:13.720 released in 1955, the reports in the archives 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:17.540 state he was making $53 ,000 a year. That number 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:19.439 might sound small today to someone listening, 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:21.879 so you really have to contextualize it. Right. 00:07:21.939 --> 00:07:23.920 What was the average income back then? The average 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.360 American income in the mid -50s was maybe around 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:31.019 $4 ,000. But more importantly, look at the NBA 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:34.579 stars. George Mikan was the absolute king of 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:36.899 the NBA in the early 50s. The guy with the thick 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:41.170 glasses. Exactly. significantly less than $53 00:07:41.170 --> 00:07:44.889 ,000. The Detroit Tribune actually noted at the 00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:46.889 time of his release that Tatum was the highest 00:07:46.889 --> 00:07:49.230 paid professional basketball player on earth. 00:07:49.490 --> 00:07:52.009 Not just the highest paid black player, but any 00:07:52.009 --> 00:07:54.110 player. Think about the power dynamic there. 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:56.810 Yeah. You have a black athlete in the Jim Crow 00:07:56.810 --> 00:08:00.069 era who is arguably the most economically successful 00:08:00.069 --> 00:08:02.410 player in his entire sport. It's incredible. 00:08:02.730 --> 00:08:04.850 That is a position of immense leverage, but you 00:08:04.850 --> 00:08:06.589 also have to imagine the immense pressure that 00:08:06.589 --> 00:08:08.350 comes with it. And that leverage eventually snapped. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:10.740 The relationship with Abe Saperstein and the 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:13.779 Trotters falls apart in 1955. It got very messy. 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:16.319 Saperstein claimed to the press that it was about 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.560 Tatum violating team rules and unexcused absences. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:21.879 Right. And if you're looking at the history, 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:25.220 you really have to read between the lines of 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:28.259 a star player making record -breaking money suddenly 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:31.000 being, quote -unquote, released for rule violations. 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:33.779 What's your read on it? Saperstein was a brilliant 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:36.320 promoter, no doubt. But he was also known as 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:39.120 a control freak. He ran the Globetrotters very 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:42.100 tightly. He wanted to be the boss. Exactly. He 00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:44.340 didn't like his players knowing just how valuable 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:47.080 they truly were. When you have a star like Tatum, 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:50.399 who knows he is the main draw. Who knows that 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.159 people are buying tickets to see him and not 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.980 the owner? Plashes are inevitable. He became 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:57.840 too big for Saperstein to control. So Tatum doesn't 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.129 just take the firing line down. He pivots immediately. 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:04.149 He is a businessman. He grabs Marks Haynes, who 00:09:04.149 --> 00:09:05.990 is probably the greatest dribbler of all time, 00:09:06.090 --> 00:09:08.429 and another former trotter, and they start their 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:11.850 own barnstorming team. The fabulous Harlem Magicians. 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:13.509 Which is such a great stick -it -to -the -man 00:09:13.509 --> 00:09:15.690 move, honestly. Oh, absolutely. The archives 00:09:15.690 --> 00:09:17.769 note they hooked up with a guy named Dempsey 00:09:17.769 --> 00:09:20.789 Hovland to book the tour. Right. Hovland had 00:09:20.789 --> 00:09:22.809 a lot of experience booking the House of David 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:26.110 team, so he knew the barnstorming circuit inside 00:09:26.110 --> 00:09:28.710 and out. And the marketing machine just goes 00:09:28.710 --> 00:09:31.750 into overdrive. I love this one detail from the 00:09:31.750 --> 00:09:34.110 sources. They started billing Tatum on this tour 00:09:34.110 --> 00:09:36.370 as having scored the most points in basketball 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:38.809 history. It is such a great promotional line. 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:41.909 Is it true, though? Probably not. The sources 00:09:41.909 --> 00:09:44.029 call that claim highly dubious. Yeah, I figured. 00:09:44.409 --> 00:09:47.490 But in barnstorming, truth is totally secondary 00:09:47.490 --> 00:09:50.549 to ticket sales. If you tell the folks in Omaha 00:09:50.549 --> 00:09:53.409 that the greatest scorer in human history is 00:09:53.409 --> 00:09:55.710 coming to their town. they're going to buy a 00:09:55.710 --> 00:09:58.009 ticket. But this era of independence also brings 00:09:58.009 --> 00:10:00.269 us face to face with the harsh reality in the 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:02.350 1950s. Yeah, this is where the story gets heavy. 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:04.690 You can be the highest paid athlete in the world. 00:10:04.789 --> 00:10:06.990 You can be a marketing genius, but you still 00:10:06.990 --> 00:10:10.110 cannot escape segregation. The geography of their 00:10:10.110 --> 00:10:12.710 independent tour took them everywhere, including 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:14.870 places that, frankly, were not ready to treat 00:10:14.870 --> 00:10:17.669 a black celebrity with basic dignity. The incident 00:10:17.669 --> 00:10:20.809 in San Francisco in February 1955 really stands 00:10:20.809 --> 00:10:23.250 out in the Wikipedia files. It's a stark reminder 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:26.480 of the era. Tatum sues the Pan American bar in 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.480 San Francisco for $13 ,000 in damages. The details 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.740 of that suit are infuriating, but sadly standard 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:36.159 for the time. What happened exactly? He walks 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.059 into this establishment with his wife and three 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:40.559 friends. They dressed well. They clearly have 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.799 money. He's a certified superstar. And the bar 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:47.299 flat out refuses to serve them because of their 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:50.220 race. It's just this jarring split screen of 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:52.860 a life. Right. On one screen, he's a god on the 00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:55.610 basketball court. He's adored by thousands of 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:57.730 white fans who cheer for him and laugh at his 00:10:57.730 --> 00:10:59.389 jokes. And on the other screen, he can't even 00:10:59.389 --> 00:11:01.850 get a drink in San Francisco. And that psychological 00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:04.269 wear and tear has to go somewhere. You can't 00:11:04.269 --> 00:11:06.590 just compartmentalize that kind of systemic disrespect 00:11:06.590 --> 00:11:09.570 forever. You really can't. It eats at you. And 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:11.769 his personal life starts to show those cracks 00:11:11.769 --> 00:11:14.909 around the exact same time. November 1955, he 00:11:14.909 --> 00:11:17.809 gets arrested in Gary, Indiana. Right, the alimony 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:20.330 charge. Yeah, the charge was nonpayment of alimony. 00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:23.549 He allegedly owed about $7 ,000 to his ex -wife. 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:26.970 The judge had ordered him to pay $60 a week, 00:11:26.990 --> 00:11:29.049 which he fell behind on. And we should mention 00:11:29.049 --> 00:11:32.149 he had a very high -profile personal life. He 00:11:32.149 --> 00:11:35.029 was married for a brief time to Lottie Graves. 00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:37.559 Lottie the body. Right. Lottie the Body, who 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:40.059 was a massive burlesque legend at the time. So 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:42.500 his life was incredibly fast. High earnings, 00:11:42.700 --> 00:11:47.100 high expenses, fast cars, famous wives, constant, 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:50.360 constant travel. It's a recipe for severe burnout. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.919 Even if you don't have the heavy societal pressures 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.970 of racism weighing on you. every single day. 00:11:56.090 --> 00:11:58.230 And then that burnout turns into outright tragedy. 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:01.350 The timeline jumps to 1966, and this really seems 00:12:01.350 --> 00:12:03.909 to be the ultimate breaking point. 1966 is the 00:12:03.909 --> 00:12:06.429 year he loses his son. Yeah. Goose Jr. was killed 00:12:06.429 --> 00:12:08.919 in a car accident. It's devastating. The sources 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:11.519 we have are sparse on the exact details of the 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.799 accident itself, but they are very clear on the 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:16.799 aftermath. Tatum did not handle it well. How 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.139 could you possibly handle that well? You can't. 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:21.259 He's in his mid -40s. His career is naturally 00:12:21.259 --> 00:12:24.399 winding down. His body is undoubtedly just hurting 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.740 from 20 years of playing on concrete and bad 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.480 gymnasium floors. And then he loses his child. 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:32.019 The biographical records indicate he started 00:12:32.019 --> 00:12:34.299 drinking heavily almost immediately after this 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:36.840 happened. It's a very rapid spiral. We're talking 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:39.519 about a man who is an elite, well -conditioned 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.899 athlete. And within months, he's in and out of 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:44.559 hospitals. It leads directly to his death on 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.860 January 18, 1967. He was at his home in El Paso, 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:51.299 Texas. He was only 45 years old. The official 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:55.360 cause listed was natural causes. But 45 is incredibly 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:58.000 young for natural causes. Yeah, natural causes 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.700 at 45 usually implies that the body just gave 00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:03.799 out. Right. The years of physical stress, the 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:07.200 heavy drinking, the profound grief over his son, 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:10.450 it all just compounded. It's a profoundly tragic 00:13:10.450 --> 00:13:13.830 end for a guy whose entire public persona was 00:13:13.830 --> 00:13:16.789 based around creating joy. He was buried at Fort 00:13:16.789 --> 00:13:19.330 Bliss National Cemetery. Which is a really poignant 00:13:19.330 --> 00:13:21.409 reminder of his military service, something that 00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:23.289 often gets completely overshadowed by the basketball 00:13:23.289 --> 00:13:26.500 legacy. It was a very quiet end for such a loud 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:29.080 life. And frankly, the recognition of his greatness 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:31.440 was quiet for a long time, too. Too long. That 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.019 was the part that surprised me the most going 00:13:33.019 --> 00:13:35.159 through this data, the massive gap between his 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:36.960 death and his official honors. Right. He does 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:38.980 get into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame pretty 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:42.100 quickly in 1974. That makes sense, local recognition. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.899 But the Globetrotters, they didn't retire his 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:48.740 jersey number until 2002. That is a 35 -year 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.039 gap just to retire the number of the guy who 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:54.779 built your brand. number 50, and he was only 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:57.039 the fourth player to ever get that honor from 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.399 the team. He also gets a Legends ring at Madison 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:01.419 Square Garden eventually. Also well -deserved. 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:05.559 But then the big one, the Naismith Memorial Basketball 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:07.940 Hall of Fame. The ultimate validation in the 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:11.120 sport. He doesn't get elected until 2011, decades 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.480 after his death. That delay speaks volumes about 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.539 how the traditional basketball establishment 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:18.940 viewed entertainers. You didn't take them seriously. 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:21.639 Exactly. For decades, the Hall of Fame was strictly 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:25.100 for the NBA and college purists. Barnstorming 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:27.480 was seen as just a sideshow. It took a really 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:29.539 long time for historians to look back and say, 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:31.820 wait a minute, this guy wasn't just a clown. 00:14:32.299 --> 00:14:34.440 He was keeping professional basketball alive 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:38.100 during its absolute leanest years. He professionalized 00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:40.379 the sport for black athletes. And he was actively 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:43.059 innovating the game on the floor. When we look 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:45.279 at his legacy as a whole, it feels like it has 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:48.940 three distinct pillars. I agree. I see it as 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:53.059 innovation, economics, and joy. Break that down. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.299 Well, innovation is obviously the hookshot. Economics 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:58.940 is proving once and for all that a black athlete 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:02.580 could command a CEO's salary in the 1950s. Setting 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:04.860 the market. Setting the market. And joy, well, 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:06.860 despite everything he went through, he made millions 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.559 of people genuinely happy. But I want to go back 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:11.840 to that first pillar for our final thought today, 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:14.419 the innovation. Because we started this whole 00:15:14.419 --> 00:15:16.899 deep dive talking about the skyhook. The shot 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:20.320 he literally invented to utilize that 84 -inch 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.500 wingspan. We know it's unblockable. We literally 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:26.200 saw Kareem score 38 ,000 points with it later 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:28.659 on. We know Goose Tatum dominated the globe with 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:30.860 it. Statistically speaking, it is the most efficient 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:33.460 and unstoppable shot in basketball history. So 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:35.740 here is the question I want you, the listener, 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:38.220 to walk away with today. If this shot is the 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:40.360 ultimate cheat code, if it completely solves 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:43.419 the problem of defensive length, Why is it dead? 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:45.740 That's a great question. You watch a modern basketball 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:48.379 game today and absolutely nobody throws a skyhook. 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:50.899 It is the great mystery of modern basketball 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:54.080 mechanics. Did we somehow optimize the fun and 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.639 the thunk out of the game? Or is it just that 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.080 incredibly hard to teach to a new generation? 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:02.279 Maybe it requires a very specific kind of spatial 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.620 genius or a specific kind of body that we just 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.240 haven't seen replicated since Tatum and Kareem. 00:16:08.669 --> 00:16:10.669 It's just strange to think that the ultimate 00:16:10.669 --> 00:16:13.549 legacy of the Clown Prince is a devastating weapon 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:16.090 that everyone respects, but nobody dares to use. 00:16:16.669 --> 00:16:18.289 Definitely something to think about the next 00:16:18.289 --> 00:16:21.269 time you see a seven -footer settling for a contested 00:16:21.269 --> 00:16:23.909 jump shot. For sure. Thanks for going on this 00:16:23.909 --> 00:16:26.450 deep dive with us into the life and legacy of 00:16:26.450 --> 00:16:28.450 Deuce Tatum. Always a pleasure. We'll catch you 00:16:28.450 --> 00:16:28.970 on the next one.