A Brief Biography of NBA Legend Nate "Tiny" Archibald and His Career

Nate "Tiny" Archibald is the only player to ever lead the NBA in points and assists in a season. This feat alone describes what king of player Archibald was during his time in the league. The 6' 1" lefty was a do-it-all type of player that would do what was needed to bring his team to victory.

"Tiny" Archibald was born in New York City on September 2, 1948. Archibald picked up his nickname of "Tiny" on the street courts of South Bronx. Basketball was what kept him busy in his neighborhood and got his mind off of the bad things that he experienced. He was born not only into a poor family, but a poor area of the city where everyone had to learn to help each other.

Archibald focused his time on perfecting the game of basketball. In high school, he was a great athlete but failed to make progress in the classroom. Though he graduated, he was still not allowed to play on the school sports teams for much of his high school career due to sub-par grades. Instead of honing his game on the hardwood, Archibald played daily on the black top. He developed quite a knack of getting shots off, even when defended by much larger players.

Archibald attended the University of Texas- El Paso after graduating from high school. He was a standout player for the basketball team and managed to get his grades high enough to stay on the team. He set a school record by scoring 1,459 career points and then made the jump to the NBA. Though he was not a highly touted player, the Cincinnati Royals took a gamble on Archibald and selected him in the second round of the 1970 NBA draft.

It didn't take Archibald long to get adjusted to the NBA game and succeed greatly. In only his second season in the league, he trailed only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the scoring race. He then followed this feat in the 1972-73 season by averaging an astonishing 34 points per game to go along with 11.4 assists. These numbers are phenomenal and a season comparing to this has been very rare if not non-existent since Archibald's breakout year. After suffering some injuries, Archibald was traded a couple times and ended up playing for the Boston Celtics in 1978. Archibald, whose career seemed to be winding down, found a second wind when he joined the Celtics and returned to his All-Star form. He lead a powerful Celtics team from the point guard position and was part of the 1981 NBA Championship team. He played for three seasons after the Celtics won the title and retired in 1984. Archibald's averages for his career were 18.8 points and 7.4 assists per game. These numbers are great and got Archibald into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.

Many view Archibald as one of the most underrated players in NBA history. He was overshadowed by other superstars of his day because he spent most of his career with teams that were not extremely popular. When he showed up in Boston, his true colors showed and he became loved dearly by fans.