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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 Thurmond
Career at a glance
Nate Thurmond played 14 NBA regular seasons between 1963 and 1977, appearing in 964 games and averaging 15.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He played for 4 teams: San Francisco (1963–71, 538 games), Golden State (1971–74, 219 games), Chicago (1974–76, 93 games), Cleveland (1975–77, 114 games). His best scoring season was 1969–70 with San Francisco: 21.9 points per game over 43 games.
He rebounded best in 1967–68 at 22.0 per game. In the playoffs he appeared in 9 postseason runs (81 games, 11.9 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 14,400 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, Thurmond ranks No. 5 in rebounds 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 Thurmond
Nathaniel Thurmond (July 25, 1941 – July 16, 2016) was an American professional basketball player who spent the majority of his 14-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Golden State Warriors franchise. He played the center and power forward positions. Thurmond was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record an official quadruple-double. In 1965, he grabbed 42 rebounds in a game; only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell recorded more rebounds in an NBA game. Thurmond was named a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985, one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, and part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Known to fans as "Nate the Great", Thurmond had his No. 42 jersey retired by both the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
- Born
- July 25, 1941 Akron, Ohio, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
- Listed weight
- 225 lb (102 kg)
- Position
- Center / power forward
- High school
- Central (Akron, Ohio)
- College
- Bowling Green (1960–1963)
- NBA draft
- 1963: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
- Playing career
- 1963–1977
Career highlights and awards
- 7× NBA All-Star (1965–1968, 1970, 1973, 1974)
- 2× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969, 1971)
- 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1972–1974)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (1964)
- NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th)
- No. 42 retired by Golden State Warriors
- No. 42 retired by Cleveland Cavaliers
- Consensus second-team All-American (1963)
- 3× First-team All-MAC (1961–1963)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963–64 | San Francisco | 76 | — | 25.9 | .395 | — | .549 | 10.4 | 1.1 | — | — | 7.0 |
| 1964–65 | San Francisco | 77 | — | 41.2 | .419 | — | .658 | 18.1 | 2.0 | — | — | 16.5 |
| 1965–66 | San Francisco | 73 | — | 39.6 | .406 | — | .654 | 18.0 | 1.5 | — | — | 16.3 |
| 1966–67 | San Francisco | 65 | — | 42.5 | .437 | — | .629 | 21.3 | 2.6 | — | — | 18.7 |
| 1967–68 | San Francisco | 51 | — | 43.6 | .411 | — | .644 | 22.0 | 4.2 | — | — | 20.5 |
| 1968–69 | San Francisco | 71 | — | 45.2 | .410 | — | .615 | 19.7 | 3.6 | — | — | 21.5 |
| 1969–70 | San Francisco | 43 | — | 44.6 | .414 | — | .754 | 17.7 | 3.5 | — | — | 21.9 |
| 1970–71 | San Francisco | 82 | — | 40.9 | .445 | — | .730 | 13.8 | 3.1 | — | — | 20.0 |
| 1971–72 | Golden State | 78 | — | 43.1 | .432 | — | .743 | 16.1 | 2.9 | — | — | 21.4 |
| 1972–73 | Golden State | 79 | — | 43.3 | .446 | — | .718 | 17.1 | 3.5 | — | — | 17.1 |
| 1973–74 | Golden State | 62 | — | 39.7 | .444 | — | .666 | 14.2 | 2.7 | .7 | 2.9 | 13.0 |
| 1974–75 | Chicago | 80 | — | 34.5 | .364 | — | .589 | 11.3 | 4.1 | .6 | 2.4 | 7.9 |
| 1975–76 | Chicago | 13 | — | 20.0 | .444 | — | .444 | 5.5 | 2.0 | .3 | .9 | 3.7 |
| 1975–76 | Cleveland | 65 | — | 17.4 | .418 | — | .514 | 5.3 | 1.0 | .3 | 1.3 | 4.6 |
| 1976–77 | Cleveland | 49 | — | 20.3 | .407 | — | .642 | 7.6 | 1.7 | .3 | 1.7 | 5.5 |
| Career | 964 | — | 37.2 | .421 | — | .667 | 15.0 | 2.7 | .5 | 2.1 | 15.0 | |
| All-Star | 5 | 2 | 20.8 | .326 | — | .375 | 8.8 | .4 | .0 | .0 | 6.2 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | San Francisco | 12 | — | 34.2 | .438 | — | .679 | 12.3 | .8 | — | — | 10.0 |
| 1967 | San Francisco | 15 | — | 46.0 | .433 | — | .571 | 23.1 | 3.1 | — | — | 15.9 |
| 1969 | San Francisco | 6 | — | 43.8 | .392 | — | .588 | 19.5 | 4.7 | — | — | 16.7 |
| 1971 | San Francisco | 5 | — | 38.4 | .371 | — | .800 | 10.2 | 3.0 | — | — | 17.6 |
| 1972 | Golden State | 5 | — | 46.0 | .434 | — | .750 | 17.8 | 5.2 | — | — | 25.4 |
| 1973 | Golden State | 11 | — | 41.8 | .398 | — | .800 | 13.2 | 3.6 | — | — | 14.5 |
| 1975 | Chicago | 13 | — | 19.5 | .368 | — | .486 | 6.7 | 2.4 | .4 | 1.6 | 3.5 |
| 1976 | Cleveland | 13 | — | 28.8 | .468 | — | .406 | 9.0 | 2.2 | .5 | 2.2 | 6.7 |
| 1977 | Cleveland | 1 | — | 1.0 | — | — | — | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 | .0 |
| Career | 81 | — | 35.5 | .416 | — | .621 | 13.6 | 2.8 | .4 | 1.9 | 11.9 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 11″
- Weight
- 225 lb
- Position
- Center / power forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1963
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 3
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.
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