November 28, 2005

Contact Lee Miller

Phone 970-472-1000

GLOBETROTTERS BUSINESS PRACTICE

FREEZES TOP WOMAN PERFOMER AND TEAMMATES

OUT OF MAJOR ARENAS

“Ladè Majic” Prophete is the hardest working woman in show basketball. Correction, she is the hardest working player, male or female, in show basketball. Leading the Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show over the past eight seasons, she has performed thousands of high-energy basketball comedy shows in large high school and small college gymnasiums throughout the country.

But because of a contract clause used by Harlem Globetrotters in dealings with major arenas, she may never get the opportunity to play on the biggest stages, the 15,000 and 20,000 seat public facilities that house NCAA Division 1 and NBA basketball teams. The Globetrotters have a contract addendum with over 200 arenas that excludes competitive shows like the Harlem Ambassadors for a 14 week period during the heart of basketball season.

“It’s completely unfair because Majic is the best show player there is and people tell us that all the time,” said Harlem Ambassadors President and General Manager Dale Moss. In comedy basketball parlance, the show player is the player that is the mischief-maker, the performer who annoys the referee and the opposing team and interacts with the fans. With the “other Harlem team” that role has been performed by players with names such as Goose and Meadowlark.

Moss is hoping this inequitable situation may change as a result of a complaint filed by the Harlem Ambassadors with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charging the Harlem Globetrotters with using unreasonable methods to restrain competition in the marketplace. The 20 page filing seeks to have the FTC permanently enjoin the Harlem Globetrotters from using these monopolistic business practices.

“Majic has been on the road eight or nine months out of the year and has made Colorado her permanent residence,” Moss observed. Her house has a view of the recently-built Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado. “She pays taxes to Larimer County which built the Events Center. She can see the building from her house, yet can’t play there because of this clause,” said Moss. He added that Ladè Majic and her teammates are also frozen out of the arena at the University of Missouri, where ironically she starred as an All-Conference player for the Tigers.

Not only is Majic Prophete affected by this restriction, but it also impacts up-and-coming woman show player K.B. Buckner who is the featured performer on the Harlem Ambassadors second touring unit. The former Hardin-Simmons University star is currently in her third season with the Harlem Ambassadors and is another performer that is earning rave reviews throughout the country.

“Our women players have an enthusiasm, a charm, and a determination that is not found anywhere else in show basketball,” said Dale Moss. “They are sensational and we simply are seeking to remove any barriers that would limit them from reaching whatever heights they can as performers,” he concluded. The Harlem Globetrotters have not signed a woman player in nearly 16 years, the last being in 1990.

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