March 24, 2025 • 10 mins
Dive into the inspiring story of Nate "Tiny" Archibald, the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring (34.0 PPG) and assists (11.4 APG) during the same season in 1972-73. Explore his humble beginnings in the Bronx, his rise to stardom, and his resilience through injuries to become an NBA champion. This episode celebrates Tiny’s legacy as one of basketball’s most versatile and impactful players.
Key Moments Covered:- Tiny's historic 1972-73 season stats: 34.0 PPG, 11.4 APG, 46 MPG.- November 18, 1972: A standout game with 51 points and 14 assists.- Overcoming injuries to win a championship with the Boston Celtics in 1981.- Career achievements: Hall of Fame induction, All-Star MVP, and inclusion in NBA’s Top 50 and Top 75 players.
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Key Moments Covered:- Tiny's historic 1972-73 season stats: 34.0 PPG, 11.4 APG, 46 MPG.- November 18, 1972: A standout game with 51 points and 14 assists.- Overcoming injuries to win a championship with the Boston Celtics in 1981.- Career achievements: Hall of Fame induction, All-Star MVP, and inclusion in NBA’s Top 50 and Top 75 players.
📅 Listen now! 👉 DailySportsHistory.com 📲 Follow for more daily sports history insights! Hashtags:
Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/@dailysportshistory
Twitter: twitter.com/dailysportshis
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551687917253&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dailysportshistory.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/dailysportshis/profilecard/?igsh=OWl1MzIyYndqOGU2
Threads
https://www.threads.net/@dailysportshis
#NBAHistory #TinyArchibald #BasketballLegends #SportsPodcast #NBAStats #BasketballStorytelling
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On March twenty fourth, nineteen seventy three, the Kansas City,
Omaha Kings, Nate tiny Archibald becomes the very first NBA
player to lead the NBA in both scoring and assist
in the same season, defying the odds, standing at just
(00:21):
sixty one amongst giants in the sports. Coming from poverty
to NBA glory, Chinese journey is a testament of skill, perseverance,
and never giving up on his dream of being the best.
Join us today as we dive into this incredible story
(00:42):
that shows even the smallest players can have the biggest
impact on daily sports history. Welcome to Daily Sports History.
I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more
about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. As today we
(01:06):
dive into tiny Archibald and It's incredible nineteen seventy three season,
and today's trivia question to listen out for is how
many forty point games did tiny Archibold have in his
nineteen seventy three season. Listen throughout the episode to hear
the answer, and if you miss it, I'll give it
(01:26):
to you at the very end. So Nathaniel tiny Archibald
was born in nineteen forty eight in the South Bronx
of New York City and was the second of six kids,
and he had to struggle for everything throughout his childhood,
and by the age of fourteen, his father had left
the family, leaving him the head of the household. Growing
(01:48):
up in one of America's highest crime neighborhoods, he had
to avoid gangs, drugs, violence, and he immersed himself in
the game he loved of basketball. Though he ever grew
to be very big. He showed that he had great
quickness and handle for the ball and could drive to
the basket with eaves. But despite the skill, he was
(02:09):
actually cut from his high school basketball team as a sophomore,
and though many kids would have given up, he stuck
with it and by his junior year he made the team,
but was only a benchwarmer. But he never gave up
working on his craft, and by his senior year he
became the starting point guard and the team captain, averaging
double digits, was a team's second leading scorer, and earned
(02:31):
all City honors for his performance, leading his high school
to a city championship. But because he didn't start until
his senior year and he was a smaller guard at
six feet one inch, although many think that he was
probably closer to five ten five eleven. Many colleges did
not come knocking, and he struggled in the classroom as well,
(02:52):
so he had to actually spend a year at Arizona
Western College, a two year junior college, and this is
where he really blossomed. He averaged an impressive twenty nine
points over twenty seven games, proving he was dominant at
a higher level of competition, and then one legendary coach
came stepping in in Don Haskins from Texas Western University,
and offered him an opportunity. Now, we covered Texas Western
(03:14):
in a previous episode when they were the first team
to start five African American players in a championship game,
and one and three players from that championship team came
from New York. So this gave Archibald the opportunity he
was looking for and he was able to transfer over
to Texas Western, where he got a new nickname called
(03:35):
Nate the Skate for his electrifying way that he could
just flow through the offense. In his three years at
Texas Western, which later became UTEP, he averaged over twenty
points a game, but the team didn't have extreme success
like they had had in the past. They were just
a good team, but he still caught the eye of
NBA scouts and in nineteen seventy he would be selected
(03:56):
in the second round nineteenth overall by the NATI Royals,
and he was also selected by the ABA, but chose
to join the more established NBA, and he made his debut,
recording seventeen points in a loss to the New York Knicks,
and he would come in and make an impact immediately
in his rookie year, averaging sixteen points, five assists, and
(04:19):
three rebounds, and he would continue his success the following year,
averaging twenty eight points, nine assists, and three rebounds, showing
that he was one of the better players in the NBA.
But the Cincinnati Royals were struggling and had to relocate
to Kansas City. But this was an unusual system because
Kansas City and Omaha wanted to share the team so
(04:41):
they could play half games Kansas City half games in Omaha.
But Kansas City already had a team called the Royals
and they didn't want that confused, so they changed their
name to the Kings, so they became the Kansas City
Omaha Kings in nineteen seventy two, in his third season
in the NBA, would be one of the greatest seasons
in NBA history. He would average thirty four points a game,
(05:03):
leading the league and setting a record for the most
points by a guard at that time. At that time,
the league was led by sinners and big men, and
this came from how efficient he was. He shot almost
forty nine percent from the field and eighty five percent
from the free throw line, and in eighteen games that
season he would score over forty points, three of which
(05:25):
he scored over fifty. But that wasn't the only thing.
He also averaged eleven point four assisted game, leading the
league in total assists, breaking the record for most assists
in a season, and recorded three twenty plus assist games.
He accounted for over thirty percent of the team's total points.
(05:48):
But despite how successful he was, the team struggled and
they ended up with a record of thirty six and
forty six and did not qualify for the playoffs. But
this was a change in my mind. You gotta remember
this was the nineteen seventies and the previous decade was
dominated by big men, with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain
(06:09):
taking over the league. Everyone thought you needed a big
man to have success, and this guy that was barely
six foot tall was running around everybody, scoring and passing,
making the league take notice of what he was doing.
But unfortunately, the following season he injured his achilles and
gotta remember this was the nineteen seventies. Medical was not
(06:32):
what it is today. Lots of times we see now
that players struggle to come back from an achilles injury
to what they were before, let alone over fifty years ago.
But you see, he was still able to play thirty
five games that year, averaged seventeen points and almost seven assists.
Though it was a decline from the previous year that
(06:53):
was record setting, it's still impressive for a guy that
had an achilles injury. But he would come back the
next season strong and play eighty two games that season,
leading the team to their first winning season since he
had joined the team, and he averaged twenty six points
and almost seven assists, earning another All NBA selection, although
(07:13):
in the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls he struggled, only
averaging twenty points in five assists, and they would lose
in the Western Conference semi finals. Due to his decline.
He was actually traded to the New York Nets the
following season nineteen seventy six, where he would average twenty
points in just thirty four games before sustaining a severe
foot injury that took him out for the next season,
(07:35):
and again he would get traded to the Buffalo Braves,
where he tore his achilles again before the nineteen seventy
seven season and would not play a single game for
the Buffalo Braves. Then, in nineteen seventy eight, he would
join the Boston Celtics as part of a seven player trade.
As he struggled battling back from his injury, he also
(07:56):
adjusted his playthinking because the Boston Celtics didn't need him
to score thirty points a game, they needed him to
facilitate the offense, so he adjusted his game and in
three years this would lead him to his first championship
alongside NBA great Larry Bird, but only averaged thirteen points
(08:16):
a game with almost eight assist a game, focusing on
facilitating the offense and taking the step back from his
previous starring role, but he had enough success that season
that he would be named an NBA All Star and
would be named the MVP of that game, showing he
had come back from where he was from his injuries
to show his resiliency to win a championship. He would
(08:38):
play with Boston for a couple more years before playing
with the Milwaukee Bucks in his last season, the nineteen
eighty three to eighty four season, where he would average
just seven points and three assist before he retired after
fourteen seasons in the NBA. He ended up being a
seventh time All Star in an MVP and in nineteen
ninety one, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of
(09:00):
Fame and he changed the game for smaller players to
have success in the NBA. He was a true inspiration
for players like Alan Iverson and Chris Paul, both of
which had major success in scoring and assist and it
was included in the NBA's Top fifty Players of all
time in nineteen ninety six and top seventy five in
twenty twenty one. He finished his career with over sixteen
(09:22):
thousand points and over six thousand assists, and his season
of thirty four points a game and eleven point four
assists is arguably still one of the top five seasons
by any player of all time. My question is do
you think it's the best. I want to thank you
(09:44):
for listening to Today's Daily Sports History. If you liked
this episode, please follow us on our socials Daily Sports
History on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blue Sky, macedon, threads, LinkedIn,
wherever you like to socialize. Were there, join us so
you can see pictures and videos of my episodes and
(10:04):
come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History. And did
you catch the answer to today's trivia question? How many
forty point games did Tiny Archibald have in his nineteen
seventy three season? And the answer is a total of
eighteen games, which also included three fifty point games during
(10:27):
this incredible, legendary season.
On March twenty fourth, nineteen seventy three, the Kansas City,
Omaha Kings, Nate tiny Archibald becomes the very first NBA
player to lead the NBA in both scoring and assist
in the same season, defying the odds, standing at just
(00:21):
sixty one amongst giants in the sports. Coming from poverty
to NBA glory, Chinese journey is a testament of skill, perseverance,
and never giving up on his dream of being the best.
Join us today as we dive into this incredible story
(00:42):
that shows even the smallest players can have the biggest
impact on daily sports history. Welcome to Daily Sports History.
I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more
about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. As today we
(01:06):
dive into tiny Archibald and It's incredible nineteen seventy three season,
and today's trivia question to listen out for is how
many forty point games did tiny Archibold have in his
nineteen seventy three season. Listen throughout the episode to hear
the answer, and if you miss it, I'll give it
(01:26):
to you at the very end. So Nathaniel tiny Archibald
was born in nineteen forty eight in the South Bronx
of New York City and was the second of six kids,
and he had to struggle for everything throughout his childhood,
and by the age of fourteen, his father had left
the family, leaving him the head of the household. Growing
(01:48):
up in one of America's highest crime neighborhoods, he had
to avoid gangs, drugs, violence, and he immersed himself in
the game he loved of basketball. Though he ever grew
to be very big. He showed that he had great
quickness and handle for the ball and could drive to
the basket with eaves. But despite the skill, he was
(02:09):
actually cut from his high school basketball team as a sophomore,
and though many kids would have given up, he stuck
with it and by his junior year he made the team,
but was only a benchwarmer. But he never gave up
working on his craft, and by his senior year he
became the starting point guard and the team captain, averaging
double digits, was a team's second leading scorer, and earned
(02:31):
all City honors for his performance, leading his high school
to a city championship. But because he didn't start until
his senior year and he was a smaller guard at
six feet one inch, although many think that he was
probably closer to five ten five eleven. Many colleges did
not come knocking, and he struggled in the classroom as well,
(02:52):
so he had to actually spend a year at Arizona
Western College, a two year junior college, and this is
where he really blossomed. He averaged an impressive twenty nine
points over twenty seven games, proving he was dominant at
a higher level of competition, and then one legendary coach
came stepping in in Don Haskins from Texas Western University,
and offered him an opportunity. Now, we covered Texas Western
(03:14):
in a previous episode when they were the first team
to start five African American players in a championship game,
and one and three players from that championship team came
from New York. So this gave Archibald the opportunity he
was looking for and he was able to transfer over
to Texas Western, where he got a new nickname called
(03:35):
Nate the Skate for his electrifying way that he could
just flow through the offense. In his three years at
Texas Western, which later became UTEP, he averaged over twenty
points a game, but the team didn't have extreme success
like they had had in the past. They were just
a good team, but he still caught the eye of
NBA scouts and in nineteen seventy he would be selected
(03:56):
in the second round nineteenth overall by the NATI Royals,
and he was also selected by the ABA, but chose
to join the more established NBA, and he made his debut,
recording seventeen points in a loss to the New York Knicks,
and he would come in and make an impact immediately
in his rookie year, averaging sixteen points, five assists, and
(04:19):
three rebounds, and he would continue his success the following year,
averaging twenty eight points, nine assists, and three rebounds, showing
that he was one of the better players in the NBA.
But the Cincinnati Royals were struggling and had to relocate
to Kansas City. But this was an unusual system because
Kansas City and Omaha wanted to share the team so
(04:41):
they could play half games Kansas City half games in Omaha.
But Kansas City already had a team called the Royals
and they didn't want that confused, so they changed their
name to the Kings, so they became the Kansas City
Omaha Kings in nineteen seventy two, in his third season
in the NBA, would be one of the greatest seasons
in NBA history. He would average thirty four points a game,
(05:03):
leading the league and setting a record for the most
points by a guard at that time. At that time,
the league was led by sinners and big men, and
this came from how efficient he was. He shot almost
forty nine percent from the field and eighty five percent
from the free throw line, and in eighteen games that
season he would score over forty points, three of which
(05:25):
he scored over fifty. But that wasn't the only thing.
He also averaged eleven point four assisted game, leading the
league in total assists, breaking the record for most assists
in a season, and recorded three twenty plus assist games.
He accounted for over thirty percent of the team's total points.
(05:48):
But despite how successful he was, the team struggled and
they ended up with a record of thirty six and
forty six and did not qualify for the playoffs. But
this was a change in my mind. You gotta remember
this was the nineteen seventies and the previous decade was
dominated by big men, with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain
(06:09):
taking over the league. Everyone thought you needed a big
man to have success, and this guy that was barely
six foot tall was running around everybody, scoring and passing,
making the league take notice of what he was doing.
But unfortunately, the following season he injured his achilles and
gotta remember this was the nineteen seventies. Medical was not
(06:32):
what it is today. Lots of times we see now
that players struggle to come back from an achilles injury
to what they were before, let alone over fifty years ago.
But you see, he was still able to play thirty
five games that year, averaged seventeen points and almost seven assists.
Though it was a decline from the previous year that
(06:53):
was record setting, it's still impressive for a guy that
had an achilles injury. But he would come back the
next season strong and play eighty two games that season,
leading the team to their first winning season since he
had joined the team, and he averaged twenty six points
and almost seven assists, earning another All NBA selection, although
(07:13):
in the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls he struggled, only
averaging twenty points in five assists, and they would lose
in the Western Conference semi finals. Due to his decline.
He was actually traded to the New York Nets the
following season nineteen seventy six, where he would average twenty
points in just thirty four games before sustaining a severe
foot injury that took him out for the next season,
(07:35):
and again he would get traded to the Buffalo Braves,
where he tore his achilles again before the nineteen seventy
seven season and would not play a single game for
the Buffalo Braves. Then, in nineteen seventy eight, he would
join the Boston Celtics as part of a seven player trade.
As he struggled battling back from his injury, he also
(07:56):
adjusted his playthinking because the Boston Celtics didn't need him
to score thirty points a game, they needed him to
facilitate the offense, so he adjusted his game and in
three years this would lead him to his first championship
alongside NBA great Larry Bird, but only averaged thirteen points
(08:16):
a game with almost eight assist a game, focusing on
facilitating the offense and taking the step back from his
previous starring role, but he had enough success that season
that he would be named an NBA All Star and
would be named the MVP of that game, showing he
had come back from where he was from his injuries
to show his resiliency to win a championship. He would
(08:38):
play with Boston for a couple more years before playing
with the Milwaukee Bucks in his last season, the nineteen
eighty three to eighty four season, where he would average
just seven points and three assist before he retired after
fourteen seasons in the NBA. He ended up being a
seventh time All Star in an MVP and in nineteen
ninety one, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of
(09:00):
Fame and he changed the game for smaller players to
have success in the NBA. He was a true inspiration
for players like Alan Iverson and Chris Paul, both of
which had major success in scoring and assist and it
was included in the NBA's Top fifty Players of all
time in nineteen ninety six and top seventy five in
twenty twenty one. He finished his career with over sixteen
(09:22):
thousand points and over six thousand assists, and his season
of thirty four points a game and eleven point four
assists is arguably still one of the top five seasons
by any player of all time. My question is do
you think it's the best. I want to thank you
(09:44):
for listening to Today's Daily Sports History. If you liked
this episode, please follow us on our socials Daily Sports
History on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blue Sky, macedon, threads, LinkedIn,
wherever you like to socialize. Were there, join us so
you can see pictures and videos of my episodes and
(10:04):
come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History. And did
you catch the answer to today's trivia question? How many
forty point games did Tiny Archibald have in his nineteen
seventy three season? And the answer is a total of
eighteen games, which also included three fifty point games during
(10:27):
this incredible, legendary season.
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