Jackie Bethards

Jackie Bethards was a pre-World War II African American professional basketball player from Philadelphia. As a boy, Bethards played at the Christian Street YMCA along with Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, Zack Clayton, and Bill Yancey. There they began four fruitful careers on a squad called the Tribune Men.

As early as 1927, playing alongside "Stretch" Cooper for the Philadelphia Scholastics, Bethards was reported to have been "the sensation while in New England" by the Baltimore Afro-American. Six years later, playing alongside Clayton and Yancey for the Philadelphia Giants in another New England swing, Jackie reportedly entered a contest in the 2nd quarter with the Giants on the wrong side of a 20-7 score and, described as "unquestionably one of the best semi-pro players in the business," proceeded to hit "long shot after long shot" to tighten the game. Following a Clayton fielder that brought the Giants to within a point, Bethards "let a long shot fly that registered the winning digits" in a 32-31 win over the St Joseph's Polish Hearts.

By 1933 Jackie Bethards was commonly called the "Clown Prince of basketball", a label that came to be identified with the Harlem Globetrotters' biggest names like Goose Tatum and Meadowlark Lemon. Within a year the nickname of "Clown Prince" had followed Bethards to Chicago, whence he starred for the Savoy Big Five (also known as the Chicago Crusaders) along with such teammates as Jack Mann, Clayton, and Billy Yancey's brother John Yancey.

Following his successful foray as a Chicagoan Jackie Bethards reunited with Bill Yancey and Tarzan Cooper on the New York Rens. Along with David "Big Dave" DeJernett Bethards received top billing as a new Rens' star for the fabled team that had recently suffered the loss of sharpshooter Pappy Ricks. According to the Sheboygan Press, "Jack 'Rabbit' Bethards and 'Wee Willie' Smith play(ed) the leading roles in the comedy as they clown and burlesque with players and fans as well."

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