A former Harlem Globetrotters player says she was dropped from the professional basketball exhibition team last summer after rejecting the “pervasive” sexual advances of a coach 50 years her senior.
Mianna “Mighty” Hopkins, who played for the Atlanta-headquartered Globetrotters from September 2021 to August 2023, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the organization and two associated entertainment companies based in Peachtree Corners.
Hopkins alleges that Al Clocker, who recruited and coached her, repeatedly told her that he loved her, invited her to his hotel room to drink wine, got angry when she didn’t spend time with him and said he was heartbroken that she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship.
Clocker is in his 70s and Hopkins is in her 20s, according to the lawsuit, filed June 4 in the federal trial court in Atlanta. Hopkins also alleged that Clocker told her he was an FBI agent and was tracking her phone and analyzing her body language to determine if she was lying.
“Hopkins was terrified to tell anyone at the Globetrotters what Clocker was doing because she believed that he was in the FBI and was tracking her phone and she believed that he would retaliate against her and destroy her dream of playing with the Globetrotters,” the complaint states.
The Globetrotters did not immediately respond to questions about the case. The team first signed a female player in 1985. There are currently six female Globetrotters.
Hopkins is currently playing professional basketball in Brazil. Her lawsuit states that she intends to return to the United States and wants to be rehired as a Globetrotter.
She claims the organization and other coaches are aware of Clocker’s inappropriate conduct with female players and staff, but that he continues to be a director of scouting and a tour general manager. Clocker has been with the team for 14 seasons, according to the Globetrotters’ website.
“When a new female player joined the team, Hopkins heard one of the longterm female players tell another player to warn the new female player to ‘watch out for Al (Clocker),’” the lawsuit states. “Hopkins learned that Clocker was treating another female player in a similar manner to the way he was treating her. During the time period that the Globetrotters have employed Clocker, he has engaged in sexual relations with female players.”
Hopkins said Clocker told her that he would miss the success and heights she could have achieved by having a relationship with him. She said her contract was not renewed for arbitrary reasons after she had rejected his sexual advances.
Executive Barry Hardy told Hopkins in July 2023 that she was being let go because she hadn’t learned a “slide dribble,” and didn’t get permission to use a Globetrotters photo for a basketball camp flier, the complaint states.
Hopkins said she had been told several times by Clocker that she didn’t need to perform the slide dribble, a particularly difficult trick which most players cannot do. She said she was the only player dropped from the team for not learning the trick.
Clocker had also assured Hopkins that he was making sure she stayed in compliance with the team’s branding rules, the lawsuit states. Hopkins said she told Hardy that she received approval for the photo, and that he laughed at her when she tried to set up a meeting to discuss Clocker’s behavior.
“Clocker and the Globetrotters retaliated against Hopkins for her refusal to engage in a personal, romantic relationship with Clocker by not renewing her contract in violation of federal law,” the complaint states.
The Globetrotters and associated companies Herschend Entertainment Studios LLC and Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation face civil claims of sexual harassment, sex discrimination and retaliation.
Hopkins wants unspecified compensation including back pay and benefits.
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