When Roy “ZaZu” Byrd was growing up, he loved to make people laugh. When he was in grade school, his teacher would even give him the last few minutes of class to stand up and crack jokes when the daily school lessons were done.

“My teacher told me I’d be a comedian,” Byrd said. “I said, ‘No, I’m not. I’m going to be a professional basketball player,’ and everybody laughed at me because I had this big afro. But that was OK because I proved a lot of people wrong.”

Byrd has achieved the best of both worlds. He still makes people laugh. But now he plays professional basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters.

During a recent visit to the Gil Bishop Sports Center at Bakersfield College, Byrd conducted a basketball youth clinic for children.

With the help of BC basketball players Johnny Wiley, Garret Brown, Kristen Black, Taylor Sean, Sabrina Smart and Jaime Perry, Byrd put on a dazzling display of ball-handling and dribbling skills that had the young and old audience in awe.

The Harlem Globetrotter history spans 76 years. Contrary to the name, the Globetrotters did not start in upper Manhattan. They got their start on the South Side of Chicago in 1926 and were called the Savoy Five, named after the famous ballroom.

According to the BC office of public relations, this was the first time the storied basketball organization and BC have collaborated on hosting such an event.

By his own accounts, Byrd had to overcome a lot of hurdles and obstacles in his quest to become a Globetrotter. Born in Germany, he attended tiny Patten University in Oakland, Calif., and was invited to try out for the team after he bought his own plane ticket to Phoenix, Ariz.

Once arriving at this one-day tryout, he almost had his heart broken when he saw 65 other players also invited. Not only that, he had to play against another player who was more than seven feet tall.

“We ran a play called down screen. One of my teammates gave me the ball,” Byrd said to the audience. “The 7’6” guy was in the vicinity. I jumped. He jumped. I dunked on a guy who was 7’6” and a half.”

Byrd’s journey to becoming a Globetrotter was just the beginning. He shined at this tryout and was invited to the Globetrotters veterans camp. This time, there were 55 guys vying for a spot on the team, he said. After the tryout was finished, he had a chance to meet the team owner, Manny Jackson, who gave him his contract.

“I walked out the door, screamed very loud, came back and signed it,” Byrd said. “Then I went and called my mother collect.”

The Globetrotters have visited more than 115 different countries and have played in front of 120 million fans, Byrd said.

The message that Byrd wanted to emphasize the most to the audience was the importance of education. While at Patten University, Byrd earned a degree in business.

“God gave us two ends, one to think with and one to sit on,” Byrd said to the audience. “The amount of success is which end you use the most. Heads, you win. Tails, you lose. I hope you choose your head.”