Larry “Gator” Rivers helped integrate high school basketball in Georgia, showed his skills to the world as Harlem Globetrotters, and then became a community leader in his native Savannah. He died over the weekend at 73 years old.
Julian Cappe, 7, of Bellevue Hill, practices with Harlem Globetrotter Larry Rivers on March 3, 1980. .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 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." Pictured in a circle are Gerald Smith , Sam Drummer Ovie Dotson Larry Rivers and Rickey Brown . March 03, 1980. .
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."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.
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Former Harlem Globetrotter Larry 'Gator' Rivers passed awayRivers went on to become an All-American at Moberly Junior College and an All-Conference Guard at Missouri Western University, before moving on to a 16-year career as both a player and a coach for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1973-1986.
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Larry ‘Gator’ Rivers, Longtime Harlem Globetrotter, Dies at 73Before joining the famed exhibition team, Larry ‘Gator’ Rivers helped integrate high school basketball in Georgia in the 1960s.
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Basketball legend Rivers, longtime Globetrotter, dies at 73Larry “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, has died
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Basketball legend Rivers, longtime Globetrotter, dies at 73Larry “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, has died.
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