Larry Rivers obit

Former Harlem Globetrotter Larry "Gator" Rivers dies

 

He was not on the list.

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Larry "Gator" Rivers, who helped integrate high school basketball in Georgia before playing for the Harlem Globetrotters and becoming a county commissioner in his native Savannah, died Saturday at age 73.

Rivers died from cancer, Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis told the Savannah Morning News. Campbell and Sons Funeral Home said Rivers died at a hospital in Savannah.

Rivers was a sophomore on the all-Black Beach High School team that won the first Georgia High School Association basketball tournament to include Black and white players in 1967. He blossomed into an all-state player, graduating from the Savannah high school in 1969 and going on to be a small college All-American at Moberly Junior College in Missouri and an all-conference guard at what is now Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.

He went on to play and coach for 16 years with the Harlem Globetrotters, reuniting for a time with high school coach Russell Ellington.

Rivers once told WTOC-TV that during his tryout for the Globetrotters, team legend Marques Haynes led Rivers into a closet storing tables and folding chairs, handed Rivers a basketball and said "Let's see you dribble around this."

"So I was dribbling around chairs, under tables, doing anything I could do to impress him," Rivers said.

Rivers came home to Savannah and got involved in the community, volunteering in schools, promoting the rebuilding of neighborhood basketball courts and opening the non-profit youth mentorship organization Gatorball Academy to teach basketball.

Rivers ran for the county commission in 2020 as a Republican and was elected without opposition after the Democratic nominee was disqualified over a previous felony conviction.

"I don't know when we weren't friends," Ellis told WTOC-TV, calling Rivers "a legend."

"That was a big part of him, giving to the children that's behind him," Ellis said. "Like he said, 'Somebody gave to me, and so it's my job and my responsibility to give back.' And that's going to be missing a whole lot."

Rivers' death brought condolences from U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and others. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Rivers "led a life of accomplishment and chose to spend much of that life serving the people of his community."

Johnson wrote on social media that "Legends never die, so you will always be around, my friend," adding in an official city statement that Rivers "never forgot Savannah or Beach High School and dedicated endless hours of mentoring and teaching the rules of basketball and life to scores of young people. For this, he will always be remembered."

Funeral arrangements had not been announced Sunday.

In March 1973, Rivers impressed the Harlem Globetrotters during a tryout in Topeka, Kansas, with both Clown Prince Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal praising his natural talent. Rivers frequently told the story of how Marcus Haynes had tested his dribbling skills in a folding-chair closet, and how he had dribbled around chairs and under tables to demonstrate his ability to control the ball around obstacles. At 6 ft (1.83 m) in height, Rivers was the shortest member of the Globetrotters when he joined. He toured with Globetrotters from 1973 to 1977, and took a two-year hiatus to assist with coaching and recruiting at Missouri Western, rejoining the Globetrotters in 1979.

For many years, Rivers shared routines with Curly Neal, until Neal was sidelined due to injury and Rivers took over in the main dribbler role in 1982, at the age of 32. That year, he partnered with a Burger King franchise to create the "Burger King / Gator Rivers Basketball Scholarship" In 1984, Rivers appeared with four other Globetrotters in an episode of The Love Boat.

In 1985, Rivers started his first year as a player-coach with the Globetrotters, and worked with his former coach Russell Ellington. Rivers led tryouts during the Globetrotters' nationwide search for one or two female players to perform alongside the men for the first time in their 60-year history. However, in 1986, Rivers left the Globetrotters, citing his disillusionment with their direction under new management. One of his frustrations was that while he had been searching for a highly skilled female player who could play with the male players and be respected, Globetrotter management instead went with a player they had in mind from the start, who had publicly stated that she would not have been able to "make it" in the NBA.

In February 1986, Rivers joined the Shooting Stars, a new exhibition basketball team formed by Meadowlark Lemon. The team also featured other former Globetrotters such as Curly Neal and Jerry "Lovebug" Venable, and former NBA star Pete Maravich. Rivers and the team were invited to The White House, where they announced the start of their 1986 Commitment With a Purpose Tour, and their support of First Lady Nancy Reagan's campaign against drug abuse.

By January 1987, Rivers had signed with a new team called Basketball Magic, along with six other former Harlem Globetrotters, including Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar, Jimmy Blacklock, Ovie Dotson, Osborne Lockhart, Billy Ray Hobbley, and Robert "Baby Face" Page. The team had formed after several players from the 1985–1986 starting lineup were unable to agree on a new contract with Harlem Globetrotter management.