# Harlem Magicians

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{{Short description|Basketball entertainment team}}
thumb|right|250px|Poster for a basketball event featuring the Harlem Magicians
'''Harlem Magicians''' was a [basketball](/source/basketball) enterprise founded in 1953 by Lon Varnell through his Varnell Enterprises, that was similar in fashion and activities to the famous exhibition basketball team [the Harlem Globetrotters](/source/the_Harlem_Globetrotters). The full name of the [barnstorming](/source/Barnstorm_(sports)) [basketball](/source/basketball) team was '''the Fabulous Harlem Magicians''' with the main star attraction of the team being [Marques Haynes](/source/Marques_Haynes). Haynes had been a member of the Globetrotters, but had left the team due to a contract dispute to join the Magicians. Other famous players in the team were [Goose Tatum](/source/Goose_Tatum),<ref>[https://talesofelnora.blogspot.com/2008/12/night-harlem-magicians-came-to-town.html The Night the Harlem Magicians Came to Town]</ref> comic Sam "Boom" Wheeler, Josh Grider, [Ron Cavenall](/source/Ron_Cavenall), and Bob "Ergie" Erickson (who once stole the ball from Haynes four times in one game). [Dempsey Hovland](/source/Dempsey_Hovland), founder of 20th Century Booking Agency and himself owner of several barnstorming teams, was recruited to book the Harlem Magicians' games. 

In late 1961, [Abe Saperstein](/source/Abe_Saperstein), founder and owner of the Harlem Globetrotters, filed a lawsuit against Lon Varnell for alleged violation of Harlem Globetrotters' registered trademarks, "Harlem Globetrotters" and "Magicians of Basketball" by promoting a basketball team known as the "Harlem Magicians". In 1964, the parties settled the litigation by entering a consent decree approved by the District Court for the Southern District of New York.<ref>[http://openjurist.org/872/f2d/1025/harlem-globetrotters-incorporated-v-harlem-magicians-incorporated Harlem Globetrotters, Incorporated, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Harlem Magicians Incorporated, Lon Varnell, Varnell Enterprises, Incorporated, Defendants]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlem Magicians}}
Category:Basketball teams in the United States
Category:Sports entertainment

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Harlem Magicians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Magicians) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Magicians?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.