Scientists are still puzzled by the contents of the modern basketball— they believe it to be filled either with helium or several baseballs. Contemplate this conundrum with today’s GrouponLive deal for one ticket to see the Harlem Globetrotters play at Allstate Arena in Rosemont on Friday, December 30. Doors open one hour before game time. Choose between the following game times:

• 2 p.m.
• 7 p.m.

For either game option, choose between the following seating options:

• For $35, you get one ticket for lower-level seating in section 101, 104, 109, or 112, rows AA–FF (a $64.20 value, including all Ticketmaster fees).
• For $100, you get floor-level seating in section 3 or section 4, row 2 (a $182.05 value, including all Ticketmaster fees).

Now in their 86th season, the Harlem Globetrotters continue to entertain millions of parents, children, and general basketball admirers with a trademark blend of athletic precision and razzle-dazzle showmanship. For the team’s 2012 world tour, a rotating roster of Globetrotter favorites take to the hardwood each game, so spectators might spot Special K Daley sharing a behind-the-back pass with newcomer Jacob “Hops” Tucker, the 2011 NCAA slam-dunk champion whose 50-inch vertical leap cruelly dashed his dreams of working in a ceiling-fan store. The Trotters might also present a study in contrasts with five-foot-two Too Tall Hall and seven-foot-eight Paul “Tiny” Sturgess, the world’s tallest pro basketball player.

As the Globetrotters take on their archrivals, the Washington Generals, youngsters can learn about the benefits of teamwork while laughing along and witnessing the jovial jocks performing classic routines of unconventional passing and sudden transmutations of water into confetti. Having performed in 120 countries and all six penguin-overrun continents, the Globetrotters are one of the few teams inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as ambassadors of the sport.