Ironically, the New York Rens, organized in 1923, became what many believed was the greatest basketball team of its time. Ranked alongside the Harlem Globetrotters, the New York Renaissance (or Rens), was one of the earliest organized basketball teams. So good was the team that the men never performed at their best for fear of driving away opponents. Like the Harlem Globetrotters, the Rens performed fancy tricks and ball-passing with machine-like precision.