Longtime Globetrotter legend Larry 'Gator' Rivers has died

By Naveen May 01, 2023

Larry "Gator" Rivers played high school basketball in Georgia before playing for the Harlem Globetrotters and helping incorporate as a county commissioner in his native Savannah.

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He went on to play and coach with the Harlem Globetrotters for 16 years, briefly reuniting with high school coach Russell Ellington.

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Graduated from Savannah High School in 1969.

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which won the first Georgia High School Association basketball tournament to feature black and white players in 1967.

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He went on to become an all-state player.

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When Rivers once tried out for his Globetrotters, team legend Marques Haynes told WTOC-TV that team legend Marques Haynes took Rivers into a room stocked with tables and folding chairs.

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Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis told the Savannah Morning News that Rivers died of cancer.

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