Bob Karstens was a professional basketball player in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Karstens was born in Davenport, Iowa and attended school at Iowa Central Turner Gym and St. Ambrose College. A white man, Karstens was the third non-black player on the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name '' Harlem'' because of ...

' roster. First was owner Abe Saperstein as a substitute in the team's first year. Second was Rob Nichol a Canadian in 1941. He invented a few routines including the magic circle and the yo yo

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. He played on the All Black Team, 8 years before the NBA was integrated. He stayed on as a team manager from 1954 to 1994. He died on December 31, 2004.

References

Harlem Globetrotters players 2004 deaths People from Davenport, Iowa St. Ambrose University alumni {{1910s-US-basketball-bio-stub