Up until this week, only 29 former Harlem Globetrotters, from the team’s 93-year history, have been given the “Legends” award. The Globetrotters have announced they will add three more to that list during their 2019 Fan Powered North American Tour. The Globetrotters will bring their 2019 tour to the BOK Center in Tulsa, February 7 at 7 p.m.

Michael “Wild Thing” Wilson will be honored at the team’s show Friday in Memphis, Matthew “Showbiz” Jackson will be honored in Atlanta on Sunday and Osborne “Goose” Lockhart in Minneapolis on March 30.

The “Legends” ring is presented to retired Globetrotters who have made a major contribution to the success and development of the Hall of Fame organization. Each honoree exemplifies the Harlem Globetrotters’ humanitarian contributions.

As a longtime friend of all three of these players, I called them to congratulate them and get their comments.

Michael “Wild Thing” Wilson holds the Guinness World Record for the highest slam dunk ever recorded, setting the mark at 12-feet during Final Four Weekend in April of 2000. There’s an exhibit at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame depicting this accomplishment. Wilson played 10 seasons with the Globetrotters and traveled to nearly 60 countries during his career.

“I can’t believe I’m mentioned in the same sentence with so many great Globetrotters, Wilson said.

My funniest memory of Wilson was when he did the football routine. He’d pull his shorts up around his chest and tip-toe behind the line of scrimmage to get in his position at wide receiver.

“We had so much fun doing those things, a lot of it we would see on television and try to imitate it,” he said. “So much of what came off great wasn’t even planned. I remember the first time I did the football routine, I looked at the bench and coach Tex Harrison was laughing. If you could make him laugh you know you’re doing good.”

Matthew “Showbiz” Jackson served as one of the team’s top showmen, and visited more than 75 countries during his 20-year career.

“This is so special, and what a great honor,” Jackson told me. “When I played with the Globetrotters, I put my heart and soul into it every night. I worked hard at what I did, and for them to recognize me after playing for the team 20 seasons, makes me feel special and truly honored.”

Jackson said being named to the Legends list means you’re in great company.

“It means that you stood out amongst your peers and dedicated your life to something that has been around since 1926,” he said. “To be named to a list with players like Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal and others that came before them is amazing. Those guys gave us the blueprint of what it means to be a Globetrotter, and I was really honored to be able to do it for as many years as I did.”

Jackson played with Lockhart and Wilson and said it was really special to be named a Legend in the same year as two of his teammates.

Osborne “Goose” Lockhart was a superior ball handler and shooter during his 17-year career with the Globetrotters, and served two seasons as a coach for the team. Lockhart was selected in the sixth round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers after a standout career at the University of Minnesota, where he was a three-year starter, scoring more than 1,100 points during his college career.

“It’s really an honor to get in that group; out of everyone that has ever played with the Globetrotters there’s only 32 that have been named Legends,” Lockhart told me. “It’s amazing to think I’m in the same group with Globetrotter greats like Goose Tatum, Curly Neal, Sweet Lou Dunbar, Meadowlark Lemon, and all those guys.”

Lockhart, 64, has two sons, Osborne Jr. who lives in Tulsa, and Kevin who lives in Florida. Both will be in Minneapolis when Lockhart is honored by the Globetrotters. Even his former coach at The University of Minnesota, Jim Dutcher, will be there.

“I’ll probably see friends and teammates who I haven’t seen in 40 years,” he said.