The Harlem Wizards is a professional basketball team created in 1962 by sports promoter Howie Davis. Unlike most basketball teams, the Harlem Wizards are not primarily focused on winning games. Instead, their aim is to entertain the crowd using a variety of basketball tricks and alley oops. They perform fundraisers at local schools for the students and the rest of the community, displaying their fancy trickery through dribbling, passing, shooting, and dunking. Through these fundraisers, they have raised millions of dollars for "charitable organizations, schools, and foundations around the world." The audience is not only there to watch the Wizards, but also to participate in the show. The Wizards get the crowd involved, often bringing children out onto the floor to be part of a basketball trick or a comedy act.[1]
The Wizards are a comedy basketball team that tour the country.[2] The theme for the Wizards' 2010–2011 campaign was the "Basketball and Beyond Tour."[1] They hold the second longest known winning streak in all of professional sports—over 5,000 games[2] after the Harlem Globetrotters 24-year, 8,829 game streak[3]
In 1962, Davis created the Wizards, wanting to expand on Saperstein's idea of the Globetrotters. Davis wanted the Wizards to be an even more competitive, creative, and entertaining team than the Globetrotters.[2]
When Howie Davis died in 1992, his son, Todd Davis, took over as the President of the Harlem Wizards organization.[5]
Since 1962, the Wizards have played over 10,000 games, both in the United States and abroad. They have played on five continents and in 22 countries.[6]
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