Jackie Bethards was a pre-World War II

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

professional basketball player from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. As a boy, Bethards played at the Christian Street YMCA along with Charles "Tarzan" Cooper,

Zack Clayton Zachary M. Clayton (April 17, 1913 – November 20, 1997) was a basketball player for the New York Rens. He was also a Negro league baseball player and a professional boxing referee. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of F ...

, and

Bill Yancey William James Yancey (April 2, 1902 – April 13, 1971) was an American baseball shortstop in the Negro leagues. He played from 1927 to 1936. He also played for the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional basketball team. Yancey also serv ...

. There they began four fruitful careers on a squad called the Tribune Men.

"Clown Prince of Basketball"

As early as 1927, playing alongside "Stretch"

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...

for the Philadelphia Scholastics, Bethards was reported to have been "the sensation while in New England" by the Baltimore Afro-American. Six years later, playing alongside Clayton and Yancey for the Philadelphia Giants in another New England swing, Jackie reportedly entered a contest in the 2nd quarter with the Giants on the wrong side of a 20–7 score and, described as "unquestionably one of the best semi-pro players in the business," proceeded to hit "long shot after long shot" to tighten the game. Following a Clayton fielder that brought the Giants to within a point, Bethards "let a long shot fly that registered the winning digits" in a 32–31 win over the St Joseph's Polish Hearts. By 1933 Jackie Bethards was commonly called the "Clown Prince of basketball", a label that came to be identified with the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

' biggest names like

Goose Tatum Reece "Goose" Tatum (May 31, 1921 – January 18, 1967) was an American Negro league baseball and basketball player. In 1942, he was signed to the Harlem Globetrotters and had an 11-year career with the team. He later formed his own team known as ...

and

Meadowlark Lemon Meadowlark Lemon (born Meadow Lemon III; April 25, 1932 – December 27, 2015) ''www.meadowlarklemon.org.'' Retrieved May 8, 2017. was an American basketball player, actor, and Christian minister. For 22 years, he was known as the "Clow ...

. Within a year the nickname of "Clown Prince" had followed Bethards to Chicago, whence he starred for the

Savoy Big Five The Harlem Globetrotters is an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and ter ...

(also known as the

Chicago Crusaders The Chicago Crusaders were an all-black barnstorming basketball club whose history ran from 1933 through 1947. Commonly billed as the "Western World's Colored Champions" the team's roster over the years featured about a dozen players who also were ...

) along with such teammates as Jack Mann, Clayton, and Billy Yancey's brother John Yancey.

New York Rens

Following his successful foray as a Chicagoan Jackie Bethards reunited with Bill Yancey and

Tarzan Cooper Charles Theodore "Tarzan" Cooper (August 30, 1907 – December 19, 1980) was an American professional basketball player and coach who is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is best known for his time with the all-Bla ...

on the

New York Rens The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big R Five and as the Rens, were the first black-owned, all-black, fully-professional basketball team in history, established in October 1923, by Robert "Bob" Douglas. They were named after t ...

. Along with

David "Big Dave" DeJernett David "Big Dave" DeJernett (February 22, 1912 – August 4, 1964) was a pioneer in the integration of scholastic and collegiate basketball in the United States. He is best known for leading the integrated Washington Hatchets to the Indiana stat ...

Bethards received top billing as a new Rens' star for the fabled team that had recently suffered the loss of sharpshooter Pappy Ricks. According to the Sheboygan Press, "Jack 'Rabbit' Bethards and 'Wee Willie' Smith play(ed) the leading roles in the comedy as they clown and burlesque with players and fans as well." While he undeniably was a star with the Rens, earning the moniker "ShowBoat," Bethards only played for the club in 1935–36 and 1936–37, before being replaced in a sense by high school-to-pros phenom Johnny Isaacs. Bethards clearly kept good relations with

. Cooper once described a memorable 4th-quarter duel in 1928 between Bethards, playing for the Philadelphia Giants, and the Rens' star guard Clarence "Fats" Jenkins, saying "We gave the ball to Jackie. Fats, a master at the art of freezing, tried to take the ball away from him. I will never forget the things Jackie pulled...and he kept the ball in his possession for three minutes, kept it away from one of the greatest players the game has ever known". en route to the Giants' tense 31–29 win over the Rens in Boston. The following year, in 1929, the outcome was similar: "Gorilla" Bethards was described as the Giants' brightest star, his "humorous antics" keeping the crowd on edge and his "all-around playing ability on a level with the best in the business" as the Giants again beat the NY Rens in Boston, 25–23. For one of Bethards' last performances as a Ren in 1937, the story ran, "Jack Bethards, Ren forward, had the fans in thunderous applause every minute he was in the game, putting on a great basketball exhibition. He was by far the fastest man on the floor, and his handling of the ball was uncanny" to spark the Rens' 51–38 win over the Art Imigs (later the

Sheboygan Redskins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–50 season. History Overview The Redskins played in thre ...

of the NBA).

Style

That same year the

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

Dan Burley Dan Burley (November 7, 1907, in Lexington, Kentucky – October 29, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois) was an American pianist and journalist. He appeared on numerous network television and radio shows in the US and had two radio shows of his own on WW ...

wrote in his trademark homey fashion: "Influence of Bethards' style of basketball playing was shown in the Gladiator/Rival Dog Food clash at the Armory. George Darden, Red Bolton, an' others on th' team are perfecting th' clown formulations to a nicety.". Two days after Burley's column appeared the Sheboygan Press again weighed in, saying "The clown of the Rens is Jackie Bethards, who travels around the floor so fast fans only see a dark streak flitting about the court. A showman through and through, Jackie drives his opponents crazy with his speed and antics on the floor. A great shot, Bethards is content to thrill the fans with his speed and ball handling, leaving the scoring end of the game to the rest of his mates.". When the

came to

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

in 1949 fresh from wins over both the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

and

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

, Jackie Bethards' comedic influence was recalled: "The last time a team appeared in Lowell the likes of this club was when the Sacred Heart team had the famous Philadelphia Colored Giants in town featuring the great 'Gorilla' Bethards. The big interest will be in the trick style of ball the visitors play."

Washington Bears

Whether he parted company with the Rens for stylistic or other reasons, for several seasons after 1937 little is known of Bethards' playing career until he resurfaced in 1942 joining John Isaacs, Cooper and Clayton on the Philadelphia Toppers in games against the Detroit Clowns and Long Island Pros. In 1942–43 Bethards also played alongside Tarzan Cooper and several other ex-NY Rens for the

Washington Bears The Washington Bears were an all-black professional basketball team of the 1940s. Sponsored by movie theater owner Abe Lichtman, the Bears played their home games at Turner's Arena in Washington, DC.Claude Johnson. "". ''Black Fives''. February ...

club that won the World's Pro Championship tourney in Chicago. True to reputation, Bethards was credited with freezing the ball to clinch the Bears' 27th consecutive win in a January 1943 match against the New York Clippers that ended 36–29. For several years afterwards both Bethards and Tarzan Cooper remained associated with the Washington Bears until the fall of 1946, when Bears' owner AE Lichtman retired.

, billing Bethards as one of his stars, started another team called the "Bears" back in Philadelphia but was threatened with lawsuit by the Washington Bears' new owner Harold Jackson for forging the team name. Jackson appealed to NBL commissioner Ward "Piggy" Lambert so that the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

league would not book the Cooper/Bethards team for games. That is where Jackie Bethards' pro basketball playing career apparently ended, after two decades of competition. In 1960 Philadelphia native

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

announced he was fed up with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and would retire after his rookie season. Comparing Wilt to the Philly pro pioneers, the Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel editorialized: "The stars of the New York Rens and Philadelphia Colored Giants were that incomparable clown Jackie Bethards, a one-man predecessor to the

, and Zack Clayton and Tarzan Cooper, remember? We certainly don't wish to insinuate that the "Stilt" should be forced to undergo indignities of any kind, but neither do we feel that Bethards, Clayton, or Cooper would have hustled for cover as Wilt obviously has if his retirement is on the level. The major difference between then and now is that Chamberlain has somewhere to hide—back with the successful Globetrotters or as the backbone of a new major league—while the other poor guys merely headed dog-tired into the next town.".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethards, Jackie Basketball players from Philadelphia Year of birth missing Year of death missing New York Renaissance players American men's basketball players