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Nathaniel “Nate” Archibald is a former National Basketball Association (NBA) player who spent 14 seasons as a point guard with the Cincinnati Royals (later the Kansas City-Omaha/Kansas City Kings, now the Sacramento Kings), the New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets), the Boston Celtics, and the Milwaukee Bucks. Archibald was born on September 2, 1948, to Julia Archibald and an unnamed father in New York City.
He grew up in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City and attended DeWitt Clinton High School. Initially cut from the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, Archibald rejoined the team as a junior, eventually becoming a star player and earning recognition as team captain and an All-City selection in 1966. After graduating that same year, he enrolled at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona, for his freshman year of college before transferring to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for his sophomore year. At UTEP, Archibald played under Coach Don Haskins and had three standout seasons from 1967 to 1970.
Nate Archibald Scoring at UTEP (Wikipedia)
Archibald was selected 19th overall in the 1970 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals. During the 1972-1973 NBA season, he led the league in both scoring and assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to achieve this feat in the same season. He was named an NBA All-Star three times with the team (1973, 1975, and 1976). In 1972, the team relocated from Cincinnati to Kansas City, becoming the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, and later just the Kansas City Kings in 1975. Archibald remained with the franchise until the end of the 1975-1976 season.
He played one season with the New York Nets during the 1976-1977 season. Archibald was then traded to the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) before the 1977-1978 season but never played for the team due to an Achilles tendon injury. He was subsequently traded to the Boston Celtics, where he experienced a career resurgence. With the Celtics, he was named an NBA All-Star three times (1980, 1981, 1982) and was the MVP of the 1981 All-Star Game. That same year, he helped lead the Celtics to an NBA Championship, defeating the Houston Rockets in six games alongside Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish.
Archibald remained with the Celtics until he was waived before the 1983-1984 season. He played his final NBA season with the Milwaukee Bucks before retiring at age 36. In 1991, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 and was also selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Archibald was once married to Shirley Dixon in 1967, and the couple had five children together.
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