Bellmore's Eddie Higgins having the time of his life with the Washington Generals
Washington Generals player Eddie Higgins poses for a photo before playing against the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Eddie Higgins stepped onto the floor at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon as friends and family watched. He didn’t box out. He missed a big block near the rim. He failed to defend against the pick-and-roll.
And yet it was a masterful performance.
To clarify, Higgins, a former Division III basketball player who grew up in Bellmore and won a state championship when he played for Holy Trinity High School, lost again that day.
It’s now been three years of losing, actually.
At 27, he’s done it in 37 states and six countries on two different continents. Basketball fans in Malaysia have seen him lose. He even suffered a severe ligament tear last year while losing and spent six months rehabbing it so he could come back and lose again.
Such is the life of a Washington General — the team destined to play and just barely fail — against the Harlem Globetrotters.
On Saturday, the Globetrotters pulled out a win at the buzzer after some truly egregious officiating: Tied with time expiring, one Globetrotter hoisted up Jahmani Swanson — known as “Hot Shot” — for the winning dunk.
Hot Shot is listed at 4-5.
“It’s a kid’s show, so you’ve got to go out, do your job, put smiles on people’s faces and make a kid laugh,” Higgins said, laughing himself. “Losing is annoying, but at the end of the day, if you put a smile on someone’s face, it’s OK.”
Every time a kid gets to '‘ooh’' at an uncontested dunk or laugh at a knee-buckling crossover, there needs to be a green-clad unsung hero ready to take the fall. Sometimes literally. And that’s where Higgins and his brethren come in.
See, the Generals are filled with skilled basketball players, and they’re not supposed to miss shots on purpose (it wouldn’t be much fun if they did). But the name of the game is allowing their high-flying counterparts to do their thing without ruining the good time for the thousands in attendance.
It's not a job for the weak: Higgins is a 6-7 center being asked to not defend. And even against the Globetrotters, competitors want to compete and hate to lose. It turns out, though, that there are different kinds of victories.
The best part “is making a kid laugh at the game — maybe giving him a headband or an arm sleeve, even shoes sometimes, shirts, jerseys,” Higgins said, recalling the child he saw being tended to by EMTs at a game a few days earlier. “The other day at halftime, I came out and a kid had a cut on his eyebrow, gushing blood . . . I asked him if he was all right, and he said yeah, but [it was clear] he was sad and tearing up, so I gave him one of my practice jerseys. It’s about little things like that.”
Higgins, who played for Farmingdale State and St. Joseph’s, was first recruited in 2021 after being spotted at a men’s summer league game in Queens. COVID-19 delayed his debut, but in 2023 he became part of the team established in the 1950s to be the Globetrotters' eternally failing foil.
And believe it or not, it’s something of a dream, said his mom, Tracy. Especially last year, when Higgins got to play at Madison Square Garden for the first time.
“I actually taped the whole thing when they were announcing Eddie Higgins from Long Island and I watch it on a daily basis,” she said Saturday. “It’s just so amazing to have your kid walk out on the court at Madison Square Garden, doing something that he loves.”
The first iteration of the Globetrotters originated in Chicago in 1926, drawing the best Black players in the country during an era of segregation that gave them few other options. A version of the barnstorming basketball teams of the time, they often took on all-white squads in exhibition games and famously twice beat the championship Lakers — then in the National Basketball League — in 1948 and 1949.
The script changed with the advent of the integrated NBA (some Globetrotters were among the first Black players in the league) and in 1953, a new foe was born — the Generals.
Though there are unsubstantiated rumors of about six Generals victories over the years, there are only two confirmed instances, according to news reports: Once in 1957, after a scoreboard malfunction led the Globetrotters to think they were winning when they were behind, and again in 1971, when Generals player-owner Red Klotz, a former NBA point guard, took things into his own hands and scored a winning basket.
Since then, the Generals have been on a 53-year losing streak against the Globetrotters (over the years, they've won competitive games against other teams).
That, though, didn’t stop Tracy and Eddie Higgins from rooting for their son — something that they’ve done in numerous U.S. states. Both were wearing Generals colors, but Tracy was impossible to miss in a fully Kelly green shirt — an F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque beacon in a sea of red, white and blue. When her son was introduced, she led a loud cheer from Section 108, made up of friends and family who made the trip to see Eddie.
“Last year when we were coming to the Garden, there was a family on the train and they were all in Globetrotter gear and we were telling him that our son was on the Generals,” Tracy said. “They were actually rooting for him when he came out, they were all screaming for him. He’s a neighborhood kid. No one would believe it.”
Playing D-III in college meant a career in professional basketball was unlikely, but the combination of Eddie’s specific skill set, height and affability means he gets to walk a special sort of path, and it’s one his parents clearly value.
“When we were in Tampa, my sister and him were in a sneaker store and there was a kid walking around . . . and the mother goes up to my son and goes, ‘I’m sorry, my son is convinced that you were playing last night at the game,’ ” Tracy said. “He goes, ‘I was’ . . . and he started signing autographs and taking pictures. He’s just so good with the kids. He’s got a very big heart. He loves what he does.”
Which means Higgins dramatically rolls his eyes when a “call” doesn’t go his way, looks affronted when a Globetrotter tries to hold him back by the shorts and gamely forgets to run back up the court when possession changes hands. The entire time, kids laugh, cheer and scream, then line up for autographs after it’s all over.
The final score, by the way, was 103-101. The Generals were robbed.
Eddie Higgins stepped onto the floor at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon as friends and family watched. He didn’t box out. He missed a big block near the rim. He failed to defend against the pick-and-roll.
And yet it was a masterful performance.
To clarify, Higgins, a former Division III basketball player who grew up in Bellmore and won a state championship when he played for Holy Trinity High School, lost again that day.
It’s now been three years of losing, actually.
At 27, he’s done it in 37 states and six countries on two different continents. Basketball fans in Malaysia have seen him lose. He even suffered a severe ligament tear last year while losing and spent six months rehabbing it so he could come back and lose again.
Such is the life of a Washington General — the team destined to play and just barely fail — against the Harlem Globetrotters.
On Saturday, the Globetrotters pulled out a win at the buzzer after some truly egregious officiating: Tied with time expiring, one Globetrotter hoisted up Jahmani Swanson — known as “Hot Shot” — for the winning dunk.
Hot Shot is listed at 4-5.
“It’s a kid’s show, so you’ve got to go out, do your job, put smiles on people’s faces and make a kid laugh,” Higgins said, laughing himself. “Losing is annoying, but at the end of the day, if you put a smile on someone’s face, it’s OK.”
Every time a kid gets to '‘ooh’' at an uncontested dunk or laugh at a knee-buckling crossover, there needs to be a green-clad unsung hero ready to take the fall. Sometimes literally. And that’s where Higgins and his brethren come in.
See, the Generals are filled with skilled basketball players, and they’re not supposed to miss shots on purpose (it wouldn’t be much fun if they did). But the name of the game is allowing their high-flying counterparts to do their thing without ruining the good time for the thousands in attendance.
It's not a job for the weak: Higgins is a 6-7 center being asked to not defend. And even against the Globetrotters, competitors want to compete and hate to lose. It turns out, though, that there are different kinds of victories.
The best part “is making a kid laugh at the game — maybe giving him a headband or an arm sleeve, even shoes sometimes, shirts, jerseys,” Higgins said, recalling the child he saw being tended to by EMTs at a game a few days earlier. “The other day at halftime, I came out and a kid had a cut on his eyebrow, gushing blood . . . I asked him if he was all right, and he said yeah, but [it was clear] he was sad and tearing up, so I gave him one of my practice jerseys. It’s about little things like that.”
Higgins, who played for Farmingdale State and St. Joseph’s, was first recruited in 2021 after being spotted at a men’s summer league game in Queens. COVID-19 delayed his debut, but in 2023 he became part of the team established in the 1950s to be the Globetrotters' eternally failing foil.
And believe it or not, it’s something of a dream, said his mom, Tracy. Especially last year, when Higgins got to play at Madison Square Garden for the first time.
“I actually taped the whole thing when they were announcing Eddie Higgins from Long Island and I watch it on a daily basis,” she said Saturday. “It’s just so amazing to have your kid walk out on the court at Madison Square Garden, doing something that he loves.”
The first iteration of the Globetrotters originated in Chicago in 1926, drawing the best Black players in the country during an era of segregation that gave them few other options. A version of the barnstorming basketball teams of the time, they often took on all-white squads in exhibition games and famously twice beat the championship Lakers — then in the National Basketball League — in 1948 and 1949.
The script changed with the advent of the integrated NBA (some Globetrotters were among the first Black players in the league) and in 1953, a new foe was born — the Generals.
Though there are unsubstantiated rumors of about six Generals victories over the years, there are only two confirmed instances, according to news reports: Once in 1957, after a scoreboard malfunction led the Globetrotters to think they were winning when they were behind, and again in 1971, when Generals player-owner Red Klotz, a former NBA point guard, took things into his own hands and scored a winning basket.
Since then, the Generals have been on a 53-year losing streak against the Globetrotters (over the years, they've won competitive games against other teams).
That, though, didn’t stop Tracy and Eddie Higgins from rooting for their son — something that they’ve done in numerous U.S. states. Both were wearing Generals colors, but Tracy was impossible to miss in a fully Kelly green shirt — an F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque beacon in a sea of red, white and blue. When her son was introduced, she led a loud cheer from Section 108, made up of friends and family who made the trip to see Eddie.
“Last year when we were coming to the Garden, there was a family on the train and they were all in Globetrotter gear and we were telling him that our son was on the Generals,” Tracy said. “They were actually rooting for him when he came out, they were all screaming for him. He’s a neighborhood kid. No one would believe it.”
Playing D-III in college meant a career in professional basketball was unlikely, but the combination of Eddie’s specific skill set, height and affability means he gets to walk a special sort of path, and it’s one his parents clearly value.
“When we were in Tampa, my sister and him were in a sneaker store and there was a kid walking around . . . and the mother goes up to my son and goes, ‘I’m sorry, my son is convinced that you were playing last night at the game,’ ” Tracy said. “He goes, ‘I was’ . . . and he started signing autographs and taking pictures. He’s just so good with the kids. He’s got a very big heart. He loves what he does.”
Which means Higgins dramatically rolls his eyes when a “call” doesn’t go his way, looks affronted when a Globetrotter tries to hold him back by the shorts and gamely forgets to run back up the court when possession changes hands. The entire time, kids laugh, cheer and scream, then line up for autographs after it’s all over.
The final score, by the way, was 103-101. The Generals were robbed.
The day the Generals beat the Globetrotters
The Generals were due.
The day was Jan. 5, 1971, and it was one that will live in infamy, all thanks to Washington Generals player/owner Red Klotz, who orchestrated a (truly) impossible win over the Globetrotters, 100-99, at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Various reports say the game was more competitive than usual, and the Globetrotters' antics were toned down, especially without their best player in Curly Neal. As time ticked on, the Generals found themselves with a 12-point advantage, and a restless crowd. The game then turned very real for the Globetrotters, who shelved their usual showboating to eke out a one-point lead, according to eyewitness accounts on the UT Martin website.
And that’s when Klotz did the unimaginable.
According to “The Legend of Red Klotz: How Basketball’s Loss Leader Won Over the World—14,000 Times” by Tim Kelly, the former NBA point guard asked for the ball. There have been countless theories about his reasoning: The Generals aren’t supposed to miss shots – only not play real defense - so it’s possible Klotz, then 50, didn’t want one of his players having to decide whether to throw the game or not. There were rumors of tension between the two teams at the time. Or, it’s possible the former NBA point guard was just done with losing.
“If they can’t beat us with all that talent, with all those show plays, with the referees calling it their way, with the support of the fans, well, then it’s not our fault if they lose, is it?” Klotz is quoted as saying in the book.
He made the shot. With one more chance, a Globetrotter – the famed Meadowlark Lemon – missed his. And sure, a few kids cried - “they looked at us like we killed Santa Claus,” Klotz said in a 1998 Augusta Chronicle article - but hey, every underdog can get his day. Even if you're a Washington General.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
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