Larry Darnell Rivers (May 6, 1949 – April 29, 2023), also known as Gator Rivers, was an American basketball player, coach, business owner, and civil servant. He performed as a dribbler for the Harlem Globetrotters, and served as a coach from 1973 to 1986. In 2020, he was elected to the Chatham County Commission in Chatham County, Georgia and served in the District 2 seat from 2021.
Early life
Rivers grew up in Savannah, Georgia with his mother, who was 13 years old when he was born. He first saw The Harlem Globetrotters film at the age of seven and was inspired by the dribbling technique of Marques Haynes. The nickname "Gator" originated while playing pool tag as a child because he was unable to swim as well as his friends.
At the age of 14, Rivers quit school to manage a pool hall, but was persuaded by basketball coach Russell Ellington to re-enroll at Alfred E. Beach High School and lived with him for the rest of his high school career.
Education and early basketball career
In 1967, during his sophomore year at Beach High School, Rivers was part of the first all-black team to win a Georgia High School Association championship in any sport; it was the GHSA's first season of desegregation. Playing under Ellington, Rivers went on to lead the Beach High School basketball team to three state titles. In his senior year, he averaged 17 points and 9 assists per game. He also developed a reputation for his dribbling skills, leading to fans calling for "Gator Rivers show time" late in their games once Beach High School had established a sizable lead against their opponents. He graduated in 1969, having gained recognition as an all-city, all-region, and all-state athlete.
Rivers became a small college all-American at Moberly Junior College and went on to play as a guard at Missouri Western State University, then known as Missouri Western State College. During the 1971–1972 season, he averaged 14.6 points per game. In his final season, he averaged 16.4 points per game, and set records for the most points (429) and most assists (181) in a single season. He was selected as an all-conference guard, and received an all-American honorable mention.
In 1973, the St. Joseph Gazette called Rivers "the most talented ballhandler to ever wear a Missouri Western uniform". Rivers later said that he chose the school, despite the snow and ice, in part because the Midwest promoter for the Harlem Globetrotters lived in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Exhibition basketball career
Harlem Globetrotters
In March 1973, Rivers impressed the Harlem Globetrotters during a tryout in Topeka, Kansas. Both Clown Prince Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal praised his natural talent, while Tex Harrison later recalled that Rivers "was doing things it takes other players four or five years to be accomplished at." Rivers frequently told the story of how Marcus Haynes had tested his dribbling skills in a folding-chair closet, and how he had dribbled around chairs and under tables to demonstrate his ability to control the ball around obstacles. At 6 ft (1.83 m) in height, Rivers was the shortest member of the Globetrotters when he joined. He toured with Globetrotters from 1973 to 1977 and took a two-year hiatus to assist with coaching and recruiting at Missouri Western, rejoining the Globetrotters in 1979.
For many years, Rivers shared routines with Curly Neal, until Neal was sidelined due to injury and Rivers took over in the main dribbler role in 1982 at the age of 32. That year, the Harlem Globetrotters became the first athletic team to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rivers partnered with a Burger King franchise to create the "Burger King / Gator Rivers Basketball Scholarship". In 1984, he appeared with four other Globetrotters in an episode of The Love Boat.
In 1985, Rivers started his first year as a player-coach with the Globetrotters, and worked with his former coach Russell Ellington. Rivers led tryouts during the Globetrotters' nationwide search for one or two female players to perform alongside the men for the first time in their 60-year history. However, in 1986, Rivers left the Globetrotters, citing his disillusionment with their direction under new management. One of his frustrations was that while he had been searching for a highly skilled female player who could play with the male players and be respected, Globetrotter management instead went with a player they had in mind from the start, who had publicly stated that she would not have been able to "make it" in the NBA.