Harlem Globetrotter visits sick kids at Golisano Children's Hospital

The dozen kids were shy and wide-eyed when the really tall guy with the basketball came by to make their hospital stay a little more tolerable.

Most had never heard of the Harlem Globetrotters, but Zeus McClurkin, who has been with the basketball team six years, changed all that Wednesday when he performed classic ball tricks, slapped high fives and acted goofy.

The 30-year-old natural entertainer made sure each kid he saw in their rooms at Golisano Children’s Hospital south of Fort Myers felt special.

“If I get a chance to put a smile on their face, I know I’ve done my job,” McClurkin said. “It’s one of the coolest parts of my job.”

The 6-foot, 8-inch forward on the Globetrotters also holds a Guinness World Record for 16 slam dunks in one minute on Nov. 17, 2016. He could only dunk one ball at a time and was required to run back across the free throw line before each attempt.

He also knows a thing or two about obstacles.

He kept getting cut from basketball teams through 10th grade, until he broke through his junior and senior years in high school and made the college team as a walk-on, beating 30 others, at North Carolina A&T State University. He suffered from exercise-induced asthma, although he didn’t get a diagnosis until college.

He is in his element now, touring with the Harlem Globetrotters and being part of the “Smile Patrol” visiting hospitalized kids across the country. He does three to 13 visits a day, and if it’s a strain, he doesn’t show it.

“What’s up, girl?” he asks 5-year-old Kaiya Runion, of Cape Coral, as he bounds into her room, wearing the upper part of throw-away scrubs — she had a high fever— over his sky blue- and red-trimmed Globetrotter warmups. “Don’t tell anyone I’m wearing a dress right now. It’s our secret.”

He spins the basketball on his finger and instructs each of the kids to hold up an index finger so he can transfer the spinning ball to each tiny finger. It’s one of the tricks he does with each child.

“I’m going to make you a Globetrotter for like three seconds,” he tells 11-year-old Zaire Saldana, of Fort Myers, who had an infection and was due to go home in a few hours. McClurkin taught Zaire how to spin the ball behind his back and under his legs. “Believe it or not, you are taller than I was at your age.”

Three-year-old Luke Pizano, of Lehigh Acres, who had been bitten by a dog, couldn’t believe his eyes when McClurkin walked in his room. He went into a fit of giggles with each trick, especially after McClurkin bellowed “ooouch” and pretended to be hurt after a high five with the youngster.

Jordon Simmons Zalewski, 7, kept the spinning ball on his finger a few seconds longer than most and gave an energetic high five when prompted. The Fort Myers youngster is hospitalized for a brain evaluation.

“You’re strong, man,” McClurkin told Jordon. “Been drinking your milk? You get better, my friend.”

McClurkin, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, and recently married, said being an entertainer comes naturally.

“I just have an infinity with kids,” he said.

It also translates to adults; he chatted up the nursing staff and broke the ice with a man in the elevator between hospital floors.

“Hi, I’m Zeus,” he told the stranger. “I’ll be your elevator entertainment today.”

The Globetrotters are bringing their 2017 World Tour to Germain Arena in Fort Myers on Friday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $25.50 and are on sale at harlemglobetrotters.com or at the Germain Arena box office.