61. Nate Archibald
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Only two players in NBA history have lead the NBA in assists and points per game in the same season; one was the much heralded Oscar Robertson the other is the nearly forgotten Nate Archibald. In his prime Archibald put up some spectacular numbers but is often largely forgotten today.
Archibald attended the University of Texas-El Paso where he was a good but not great player. He was a three year starter who appeared in 73 games and averaged 20 points and 3 rebounds.
Because of the lack of notoriety at UTEP, Archibald fell in the NBA draft but was eventually take in the 2nd round with the 19th overall pick by the Cincinnati Royals. Archibald made an immediate impact averaging 16 points a game his rookie season.
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In his second year Archibald’s points per game jumped to 28 a game and his assists to nearly 10 a game, yet he was not selected to an all-star game. His third year in the league was by far his best. He averaged a league and career highs in minutes, points and assists. He played on average 46 of 48 minutes a night and was able to average 34 points and nearly 12 assists a game.
All those minutes took a toll on Archibald, who stood only six-foot-one-inch and he suffered a knee injury the following year which limited him to just 35 games. He was able to bounce back the following year and average nearly 27 points a game.
The Royals where doing a lot of traveling at this time. They had moved from their long established home in Cincinnati in 1972 and for three seasons split time between Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska becoming the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. In 1975 the Kings stopped playing games in Omaha and focused on Kansas City only. This constantly relocation upset a lot of players, Archibald included and many left the Kings organization for more stability.
After six seasons with the Kings the franchise traded Archibald to the New York Nets in 1976. The Nets had just joined the NBA from the ABA which had folded and four teams merged with the NBA. Archibald played only 34 games with the Nets before suffering yet another knee injury. The injury kept him out of the entire 1977-78 in which he was traded from the Nets, who had just relocated to New Jersey, to the Buffalo Braves who were planning on relocating to San Diego. He never played a game for the Braves and was instead traded to the Boston Celtics in 1978.
Archibald joined a Celtics team which was trying to recapture it’s former glory and within a few years of his arrival they would; but little of that has to do with Archibald the major factor was a guy named Larry Bird. Archibald became the starting point guard for the Celtics and was part of their 1981 team who won the NBA title.
Despite his scoring averages dropping significantly during his time in Boston, Archibald was a three time all-star with the Celtics and is often remembered as a Celtics player even though his best and longest years where with the Kings.
Archibald played with the Celtics until 1983 when he was released and he played one more season with the Milwaukee Bucks before retiring. Archibald appeared in 876 career games with averages of 19 points and 7 assists. He was elected to the hall of fame in 1991.
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