Final
Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks
135 – 117
2026-27 · Preseason · Preseason
Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 6:37 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Nate Archibald
Career at a glance
Nate Archibald played 13 NBA regular seasons between 1970 and 1984, appearing in 876 games and averaging 18.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. He played for 6 teams: Cincinnati (1970–72, 158 games), Kansas City–Omaha (1972–75, 197 games), Kansas City (1975–76, 78 games), New York (1976–77, 34 games), Boston (1978–83, 363 games), Milwaukee (1983–84, 46 games). His best scoring season was 1972–73 with Kansas City–Omaha: 34.0 points per game over 80 games.
The season table marks him as the league leader in scoring once, assists once. Championship season: 1980–81 (Boston). In the playoffs he appeared in 5 postseason runs (47 games, 14.2 points per game).
Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 16,500 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total). Among the 404 players with at least 200 NBA games profiled on whynba, Archibald ranks No. 17 in assists per game.
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Nate Archibald
Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings and Boston Celtics. In 1991, he was enshrined into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Archibald was a willing passer and an adequate shooter from midrange. However, it was his quickness, speed and shiftiness that made him difficult to guard in the open court, as he would regularly drive past defenders on his way to the basket. This versatility helped Archibald lead the NBA in scoring and assists in the same season (1972–73), making him the first of only two players in league history to achieve such a feat.
- Born
- September 2, 1948 (age 78) New York City, New York, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
- Listed weight
- 150 lb (68 kg)
- Position
- Point guard
- High school
- DeWitt Clinton (Bronx, New York)
- College
- Arizona Western (1966–1967) UTEP (1967–1970)
- NBA draft
- 1970: 2nd round, 19th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1970–1984
Career highlights and awards
- NBA champion (1981)
- 6× NBA All-Star (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980–1982)
- NBA All-Star Game MVP (1981)
- 3× All-NBA First Team (1973, 1975, 1976)
- 2× All-NBA Second Team (1972, 1981)
- NBA scoring champion (1973)
- NBA assists leader (1973)
- NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th)
- No. 1 retired by Sacramento Kings
- First-team All-WAC (1970)
- No. 14 retired by UTEP Miners
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970–71 | Cincinnati | 82 | — | 35.0 | .444 | — | .757 | 3.0 | 5.5 | — | — | 16.0 |
| 1971–72 | Cincinnati | 76 | — | 43.1 | .486 | — | .822 | 2.9 | 9.2 | — | — | 28.2 |
| 1972–73 | Kansas City–Omaha | 80 | — | 46.0* | .488 | — | .847 | 2.8 | 11.4* | — | — | 34.0* |
| 1973–74 | Kansas City–Omaha | 35 | — | 36.3 | .451 | — | .820 | 2.4 | 7.6 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 17.6 |
| 1974–75 | Kansas City–Omaha | 82 | — | 39.6 | .456 | — | .872 | 2.7 | 6.8 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 26.5 |
| 1975–76 | Kansas City | 78 | — | 40.8 | .453 | — | .802 | 2.7 | 7.9 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 24.8 |
| 1976–77 | New York | 34 | — | 37.6 | .446 | — | .785 | 2.4 | 7.5 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 20.5 |
| 1978–79 | Boston | 69 | — | 24.1 | .452 | — | .788 | 1.5 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 11.0 |
| 1979–80 | Boston | 80 | 80 | 35.8 | .482 | .222 | .830 | 2.5 | 8.4 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 14.1 |
| 1980–81† | Boston | 80 | 72 | 35.3 | .499 | .000 | .816 | 2.2 | 7.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 13.8 |
| 1981–82 | Boston | 68 | 51 | 31.9 | .472 | .375 | .747 | 1.7 | 8.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| 1982–83 | Boston | 66 | 19 | 27.4 | .425 | .208 | .743 | 1.4 | 6.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 10.5 |
| 1983–84 | Milwaukee | 46 | 46 | 22.6 | .487 | .222 | .634 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 7.4 |
| Career | 876 | 268 | 35.6 | .467 | .224 | .810 | 2.3 | 7.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 18.8 | |
| All-Star | 6 | 4 | 27.0 | .450 | — | .833 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 12.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Kansas City–Omaha | 6 | — | 40.3 | .364 | — | .814 | 1.8 | 5.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 20.2 |
| 1980 | Boston | 9 | — | 36.9 | .506 | .500 | .881 | 1.2 | 7.9 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 14.2 |
| 1981† | Boston | 17 | — | 37.1 | .450 | .000 | .809 | 1.6 | 6.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 15.6 |
| 1982 | Boston | 8 | — | 34.6 | .429 | .000 | .893 | 2.1 | 6.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 10.6 |
| 1983 | Boston | 7 | — | 23.0 | .324 | .167 | .759 | 1.4 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 9.6 |
| Career | 47 | — | 34.9 | .423 | .118 | .826 | 1.6 | 6.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 14.2 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 1″
- Weight
- 150 lb
- Position
- Point guard
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1970
- Draft pick
- Round 2 · Pick 19
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: 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.
View the official NBA player profile ↗