Two Globetrotters earn name the hard way

Harlem Globetrotters in metro Atlanta

1 p.m., March 15, $37.05-$177.20. Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive, Atlanta. (404) 878-3000.

7:30 p.m., March 15, $22-$150. The Arena at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. (800) 224-6422.

Harlem Globetrotters in metro Atlanta

1 p.m., March 15, $37.05-$177.20. Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive, Atlanta. (404) 878-3000.

7:30 p.m., March 15, $22-$150. The Arena at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. (800) 224-6422.

Two Harlem Globetrotters have taken their team name to a new level.

Nathaniel “Big Easy” Lofton and Herbert “Flight Time” Lang are participating in their third installment of the TV reality show “The Amazing Race.” Pairs of racers take on other teams, traveling tens of thousands of miles to the far corners of the globe. They solve problems and puzzles, run rapids and walk dirt roads, negotiate obscure languages and try to cross finish lines ahead of other teams.

The Globetrotters, who play a double headers in metro Atlanta March 15 (an afternoon game at Philips Arena and an evening game at the Arena at Gwinnett Center), travel the world extensively every year. But, Big Easy said, team members never have to book a ticket, go out and find a meal or read a map. It’s all handled for them.

“For nine years, I’ve never had to pay for a flight,” he said. “All we have to do is show up and walk through security.”

Race team members have limited cash to pay for transport, food and other necessaries as they slog across the globe.

Being a Globetrotter has its advantages, he said. They get recognized in some countries, as when a Brazilian guy who knew them bought them a meal.

Big Easy and Flight Time and their families were both fans of the show, saying it was family friendly — like a Globetrotter’s basketball game, something they could watch with their children. They were traveling to a game by bus one day when the two buddies struck up a conversation about the show and decided to send in their own audition tape.

They were chosen and became fan favorites. Though they finished fourth, they were invited back for a second run and another fourth-place finish, and now are part of the all-star race being broadcast on CBS.

“Every time we come back, it gets harder,” Big Easy said. “All the physical stuff, that’s fine. That doesn’t bother me.”

It’s the curves that get thrown to contestants — building a raft from bamboo to float down a river, trying to find a taxi in some deserted corner of the world — that makes travel during the race different, difficult and interesting.

“You know, with all the travel I’ve done, I’ve never eaten street food,” Big Easy said. “But were in Vietnam and it was like 4 a.m. and we saw this guy…”

They tried what he was grilling and selling. What was it?

“I have no idea and I don’t want to think about it too much,” Big Easy said. “I’d like to think it was chicken. Let’s go with chicken.”

And how did Team Globetrotter finish this year?

Big Easy says he can’t talk about the show.

Like his daughters, he said, fans will have to watch to find out.