How Chicago's Abe Saperstein created the Globetrotters

The original Harlem Globetrotters came not from Harlem but from the South Side, led by Abe Saperstein, a 5' 3" Chicago promoter with big ideas that would shape American sports for decades.

Why it matters: Writers Mark and Matthew Jacob tell Saperstein's story in riveting historical detail in their new book "Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports."

• As the NBA kicks off a new season this week, the legacy of the little-known Chicago promoter will be on display.

The inspiration: The brothers (Mark wrote and edited at the Sun-Times and Tribune for decades and Matthew has covered sports nationally) previously co-authored an account of historical diets in "What the Great Ate" and took on this project after a friend turned them on to this fascinating character.

• "We're fascinated by the history of sports and also by this nation's racial struggles, and this topic hit both those notes," Mark Jacob tells Axios.
• Meticulously researched using archival documents and interviews, the book tells the story of a cultural sports powerhouse while exploring how the racial attitudes of the early 20th century affected a Black sports team with a Jewish promoter as they performed across the Midwest, often traveling in Saperstein's Model T.

Biggest surprise: "Almost no one knows that Saperstein pioneered the three-point play in basketball, and we didn't know that until we started our research," Jacob says. "Caitlin Clark owes a debt to Abe Saperstein."

Extra points: The book reaches beyond the Globetrotters' story, recounting how Saperstein:

• Helped keep baseball's Negro Leagues alive
• Worked to get Satchel Paige into the Major Leagues
• Helped the NBA avoid going under in the '40s and '50s
• Secretly worked "with the State Department during the Cold War to use his all-Black team to counter global criticism of the U.S. over racial discrimination," Jacob notes.

Chicago cameos: Expect appearances by sports greats Bill Veeck, Ray Meyer and Jesse Owens.

The bottom line: Jacob aimed to create "a fun book about a creative and sometimes wacky sports promoter and his entertaining team … but also about how a Jewish immigrant and his Black athletes overcame racism in sports and society."

What's next: You can watch Mark Jacob discussing the book with former Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich on C-SPAN's BookTV on Oct. 27 here.

• Jacob talks with Saperstein's granddaughter Abra Berkley at the Writers Theatre in Glencoe on Oct. 24.
• Mark Caro will interview Jacob at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square on Nov. 20.