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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 7:43 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Nat Clifton
Career at a glance
Nat Clifton played 8 NBA regular seasons between 1950 and 1958, appearing in 544 games and averaging 10.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He played for 2 teams: New York (1950–57, 476 games), Detroit (1957–58, 68 games). His best scoring season was 1954–55 with New York: 13.1 points per game over 72 games.
He rebounded best in 1951–52 at 11.8 per game. In the playoffs he appeared in 6 postseason runs (53 games, 9.0 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 5,400 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Nat Clifton
Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton (born Clifton Nathaniel; October 13, 1922 – August 31, 1990) was an American professional basketball player who was one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was also a professional baseball player.
- Born
- October 13, 1922 England, Arkansas, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
- Listed weight
- 220 lb (100 kg)
- Position
- Power forward
- High school
- DuSable (Chicago, Illinois)
- College
- Xavier (Louisiana) (1942–1943)
- Playing career
- 1945–1961
Career highlights and awards
- NBA All-Star (1957)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950–51 | New York | 65 | – | .322 | .532 | 7.6 | 2.5 | 8.6 |
| 1951–52 | New York | 62 | 33.9 | .335 | .664 | 11.8 | 3.4 | 10.6 |
| 1952–53 | New York | 70 | 35.7 | .343 | .583 | 10.9 | 3.3 | 10.6 |
| 1953–54 | New York | 72 | 30.3 | .368 | .628 | 7.3 | 2.4 | 9.6 |
| 1954–55 | New York | 72 | 33.2 | .386 | .683 | 8.5 | 2.8 | 13.1 |
| 1955–56 | New York | 64 | 24.0 | .394 | .707 | 6.0 | 2.4 | 8.8 |
| 1956–57 | New York | 71 | 31.4 | .377 | .673 | 7.8 | 2.3 | 10.7 |
| 1957–58 | Detroit | 68 | 21.1 | .363 | .623 | 5.9 | 1.1 | 7.7 |
| Career | 544 | 30.0 | .361 | .633 | 8.2 | 2.5 | 10.0 | |
| All-Star | 1 | 23.0 | .364 | – | 11.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | New York | 14 | – | .347 | .391 | 9.8 | 3.3 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | New York | 14 | 33.0 | .293 | .711 | 9.5 | 2.4 | 9.4 |
| 1953 | New York | 11 | 36.8 | .395 | .638 | 12.7 | 3.5 | 12.0 |
| 1954 | New York | 4 | 31.3 | .296 | .529 | 9.8 | 1.5 | 6.3 |
| 1955 | New York | 3 | 36.7 | .385 | .792 | 7.7 | 4.3 | 19.7 |
| 1958 | Detroit | 7 | 10.6 | .367 | .750 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 4.0 |
| Career | 53 | 30.2 | .348 | .624 | 9.3 | 2.7 | 9.0 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 6″
- Weight
- 220 lb
- Position
- Power forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- Not listed
- Draft pick
- Undrafted / not listed
Height, Weight, Position, Country: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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