Zeus McClurkin is a testament to not giving up or letting obstacles get in the way of achieving one’s dreams.

He was cut from every basketball team he tried out for from seventh grade through tenth grade, but he kept pushing and finally made his high school team his junior and senior seasons. He played his first couple of years of college ball at a Division II program, but the departure of the head coach left Zeus on the outside looking in. Undeterred, he enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University, and he made the basketball team as a walk-on, beating out 30 other hopefuls in the process. Zeus earned an undergraduate degree in business management at North Carolina A&T and then a master’s degree in marketing and communications from Franklin University, based in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Zeus is also one of the most decorated athletes on the Globetrotters roster holding three Guinness World Records titles. Zeus has set the mark for most basketball slam dunks in one minute, with 16 (2017), most bounced three-pointers in one minute, with five (2017), and most behind-the-back three-pointers, with three baskets made (2018).

Zeus is known for his fun personality and crazy trick shots from places like Ohio State and the Mall of America, which have been featured on ESPN. Since joining the Globetrotters, he’s also transcended language barriers with appearances on popular Spanish-language television shows like Univision’s “Republica Deportiva,” and Telemundo’s “Un Nuevo Dia.”

He has accomplished all of this while dealing with exercise-induced asthma, a narrowing of the airways in the lungs that is triggered by strenuous exercise. To this day, Zeus carries an inhaler with him.

Zeus was introduced to basketball by his older brother, Robert, and cites his brother as the most influential person in his athletic career. “I fell in love with basketball because of my brother’s passion for the sport,” explains Zeus. “I wanted to be just like him, and to this day, I still can’t beat him one-on-one.”

An extremely versatile athlete, Zeus was on the swim team growing up and also played football, tennis, baseball, and soccer (“The best athletes in the world today are playing soccer,” he says). He also played volleyball and would have loved to have played professional beach volleyball and represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

Zeus has this piece of advice for young athletes: “Be coachable. Be the player that the coach never has to worry about and can depend on when called upon. I have played a lot of minutes over players that were more talented than me, simply because I was coachable and understood what the strategy and philosophy was for each team on which I played.”

Harlem Globetrotter TNT Lister joined a very elite group in the fall of 2011, becoming the first woman to don the red, white, and blue since 1993 – and her success opened the door for other female players to join the team in recent years.

TNT’s basketball journey started in the seventh grade. “I played my first basketball game at recess, and I fell in love with the game that day,” she says. She also excelled in volleyball and track and field during her teenage years – setting Colorado state records in both the long jump and triple jump – but she didn’t love those sports like she loved basketball. She was an all-conference selection in basketball in each of her four years in high school.

TNT began her college career at New Mexico before transferring to Temple, where she was lucky enough to be coached by Hall of Famer Dawn Staley. TNT says, “Coach Staley was not only a role model for me through her amazing basketball credentials, but she showed me balance – balance between being a player, taking care of family and giving back to the community. I admired her so much for her unique combination of kindness, toughness and ability to make the team feel like a family.”

The Globetrotters are like a family too, and TNT is honored to be a part of it. “Honestly, this means everything to me,” she says. “This team incorporates everything I love about basketball. Not only to play it, but to entertain, and to give back to the community. I’ve always dreamed of leaving a positive mark in basketball history, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.”

When she thinks about 90-plus years of Globetrotters history, TNT says the player she would have enjoyed playing with most is the late Marques Haynes, because of how much she admires his dribbling skills.

When she’s not burning up the floor of all 50 states across the U.S. with her own ball handling – or shooting hoops with President Barack Obama, like she did during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll in 2012 – TNT likes to watch movies (Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett are her favorite actors), as well as skate and play pool, and she really loves to draw and paint. The Globetrotters star has brought her blistering basketball skills to shows like “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” “The Queen Latifah Show,” and “The Arsenio Hall Show.”

“The best part about being a female Globetrotter is being able to inspire girls and young women to follow their dreams,” says TNT. This holds especially true for her new daughter, Kali Rose. TNT went back to play for the world famous team only five months after having her baby. Adding, “I’m so proud to come back and do my thing and be able to tell my girl, ‘Hey, you can still chase your career when you become a mom.’”

“One of the most challenging parts of being a female Globetrotter is proving that you belong on the court with the men. I love a challenge, though,” she says. Ask any of her Globetrotter teammates, and they will tell you that TNT definitely belongs. The guys on the team embraced her from day one. “I walked in with two brothers, and now I have about 30,” says TNT with a smile.