From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2,
1948, New York City) is a retired American professional basketball player. He
spent 14 years playing in the NBA, most notably with
the Kansas
City Kings and Boston Celtics.
Archibald was a willing passer and an adequate shooter from
midrange. However, it was his blinding quickness and incredible
speed and shiftiness that made him extremely difficult to guard in
the open court, as he would regularly drive right past helpless
defenders on his way to the hoop. Once in the paint, Archibald was
a veritable triple threat to either pass, lay the ball in or shoot
for two points.
High school & college
career
Archibald, a playground legend while growing up in a
rough-and-tumble neighborhood in the South Bronx, New York
City, only played high school basketball for one-and-a-half
seasons, and was cut from the varsity squad at DeWitt Clinton High School
as a sophomore.[1] He
returned to the team as a junior. During his time without
basketball, Archibald briefly flirted with dropping out of school
after having been largely truant in past years. But with the help
of two mentors, Floyd Layne and Pablo Robertson, Archibald turned
it around. Robertson, a former standout at Loyola of Chicago and a Harlem, NY, playground impressario, had seen the
gifted, mercurial Archibald in action on the playgrounds and
convinced the young man's high school coach to re-instate him on
the squad. Despite only playing in blowouts as a junior, the shy,
quiet teen managed to blossom into a high-school star, being named
team captain and an All-City selection in 1966. Off the court,
Archibald began to attend school regularly and worked to improve
his poor academic standing, which deterred most colleges from
offering him a scholarship. To improve his chances of playing major
college basketball, Archibald enrolled at Arizona Western College,
transferring to the University of Texas at El
Paso (UTEP) the following year. He had three standout seasons
at El Paso, from 1967 to 1970.
Draft
Archibald was selected in the second round of the 1970 NBA Draft
(19th pick) by the Cincinnati Royals.[2]
He was also drafted by the Texas Chaparrals of the American Basketball
Association.[3]
NBA
career
In 1973 Archibald led the NBA in scoring and
assists, becoming the first and so
far only player ever to win the titles in both categories in the
same season[2]
(it should be noted, however, that in the 1967-68 season, Oscar Robertson led the NBA in both
scoring average and assists per game but did not win the official
titles because they were based on totals rather than averages at
the time). His scoring average of
34.0 points per game was, at the time, an NBA record for a
guard. His 910 assists that season (11.4 assists per game) was also
an NBA record at the time, breaking Guy Rodgers' mark of 908. He was named the
Sporting News
NBA MVP that season.
The Kings traded Archibald to the New York Nets for two
draft picks and two players in 1976.[2]
Injured for much of the 1976-77 season, he was traded by the Nets
to the Buffalo Braves prior to the start of the
1977-78 season. Archibald tore his achilles tendon, however, and
never played a regular season game for the Braves. The Braves then
traded him to the Boston Celtics as part of a seven player deal
before the start of the next season.[4][2]
His career at the Celtics started off poorly, as he showed up
twenty pounds overweight.[4]
However, he adjusted and helped guide the Celtics to the best
record in the NBA for three consecutive years (1979–1982).[2]
Archibald won his first and only NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in
the 1980-81 season alongside young NBA star Larry Bird.
Archibald was an All-NBA First Team selection three times (1973, 1975, 1976) and an All-NBA Second Team selection
two times (1972, 1981). A
six-time NBA
All-Star Game selection (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, and
1982),[5] he was
named the 1981 NBA All-Star Game MVP.[2]
Archibald led the NBA in free throws made three times and free
throw attempts twice. He competed in 876 professional games, scored
16,841 points (18.8 points per game), and dished out 6,476 assists.
He was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary
All-Time team. Nate Archibald was inducted to the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.[6]
Archibald is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first
intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for
African
Americans.
Notes
- ^
Herzog, Bob; and Barker, Barbara. "Ewing, Five Former Knicks
Among NBA's 50 Greatest", Newsday, October 30, 1996. Accessed
September 14, 2009. "Three former Nets, Julius Erving (Roosevelt
High), Rick Barry (Roselle Park, N.J., High) and Nate Archibald
(DeWitt Clinton), also were selected"
- ^ a
b
c
d
e
f
Porter p 15
- ^
1970 ABA Draft at
BasketballReference.com
- ^ a
b
"NBA.com: Nate
Archibald". http://www.nba.com/history/players/archibald_bio.html. Retrieved
2008-05-20.
- ^
The Official NBA Encyclopedia. Doubleday, 2000.
277-280.
- ^
"Hall of Famers".
Basketball Hall of Fame. http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/tag/nathaniel-nate-archibald. Retrieved
2009-08-02.
References
- David L. Porter, ed (2005).
Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN
978-0313309526.
See also
External
links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Archibald, Nate |
| ALTERNATIVE
NAMES |
Archibald, Tiny (nickname) |
| SHORT
DESCRIPTION |
American basketball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
September 2, 1948 |
| PLACE OF
BIRTH |
New York City, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF
DEATH |
|
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