On this day in 1970: Lanier and Archibald begin Hall of Fame careers

Fifty-six years ago tonight, the NBA quietly welcomed two players who would end up in Springfield. On October 14, 1970, Bob Lanier and Nate “Tiny” Archibald played their first NBA games, a continent apart, on the same opening-week schedule. One was a 6-foot-11 center who had gone first overall. The other was a slight guard nobody took until the second round. Both finished in the Hall of Fame.

Bob Lanier in NBA 2K9 PC.

On this day in 1970, the late eight-time All-Star made his NBA debut with the Detroit Pistons, and soon became a thorn in the side of Roger Murdock.

(What, you thought that was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar he tangled with? Surely, you can't be serious!) ✈️👨‍✈️ pic.twitter.com/DXy1somMfj

— NLSC (@TheNLSC) October 14, 2026

The night two Hall of Famers arrived

The 1970 draft class was deep, and its opening night showed it. Five NBA games were played that Wednesday, and two of them launched careers that would be honored in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame two decades later.

• Bob Lanier: Detroit Pistons 123, Seattle SuperSonics 117, in Seattle
• Nate Archibald: New York Knicks 128, Cincinnati Royals 104, in Cincinnati

They were not the only rookies with something to remember. Sam Lacey started his long run in the Royals frontcourt in the same game as Archibald, posting 8 points and 8 rebounds. John Johnson scored 6 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played the first game in franchise history that night, a 107-92 loss at fellow expansion team Buffalo.

Lanier in Seattle

Detroit had made Lanier the No. 1 overall pick out of St. Bonaventure, and he wasted little time showing why. In 26 minutes at Seattle he made 10 of 18 shots and finished with 22 points and 6 rebounds as the Pistons opened their season with a win.

That debut set the tone for a decade in Detroit. Lanier became one of the league’s most complete big men, with a soft left-handed touch, strength in the post and a feel for passing out of double teams. He was named an All-Star eight times and was MVP of the 1974 All-Star Game. He finished his career in Milwaukee, where he helped the Bucks stay among the East’s best, and retired after 14 seasons with about 19,248 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992 and spent years afterward as an ambassador for the league. Lanier died on May 10, 2022.

Archibald in Cincinnati

Archibald’s first night was a harder lesson. The Royals hosted the defending champion Knicks, and New York pulled away for a 24-point win. The rookie still made his mark, playing 43 minutes and finishing with 17 points and 7 assists.

He had been the 19th pick in 1970, a second-rounder out of Texas-El Paso, and at roughly 6-foot-1 he was easy to underestimate. Within three seasons that idea was gone. In 1972-73, with the franchise relocated as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, Archibald averaged 34.0 points and 11.4 assists. He remains the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring and assists in the same season.

Injuries slowed him in the middle of his career, but he rebuilt himself in Boston as a playmaker for a new Celtics core and won a championship in 1981. He made six All-Star teams, entered the Hall of Fame in 1991 and was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

What followed

Lanier and Archibald took very different routes. One was a franchise cornerstone from his first night, the other a late pick who forced the league to make room for him. Both became the measure of their positions in the 1970s, and both were in the Hall of Fame by 1992.

October 14 has a few other entries in the league’s history. The Chicago Bulls signed Scottie Pippen on this date in 1987, and in 2002 the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings played the first NBA preseason game in China, in Shanghai. Still, few dates can claim two Hall of Fame debuts on the same night.

Sources: NBA.com (This Date in the NBA; Legends profiles of Nate Archibald and Bob Lanier), Basketball-Reference.