Excellent. I'm so grateful I had several opportunities to see Nate play in person. I always felt Nate and Willie McCovey were the two classiest athletes in Bay Area history
In my first NBA game I saw Nate Thurmond play against Bill Russell (Boston Celtics). I remember entering the arena and seeing how tall and massive Nate looked. Nate had a beautiful shot and had such defensive prowess. The Warriors won that game and Nate Thurmond was such a force. What was regrettable was that he was traded the year before the Warriors won their 1975 championship.
I was fortunate to see Nate play against Kareem in the 1972 playoffs. Nate outrebounded Kareem and almost outscored him for the series. He really was "Great".
Growing up in the Bay Area, I was lucky enough to see all of Bill Russell's home games at USF, as well as Wilt, Nate and Rick Barry play for the Warriors. Heaven for a basketball fan...
I Met Him Outside Oakland Arean 1985 After Watching Him Play As Kid ,,,Yes From Distance I Said Hello Mr Thurmond ,I Was In AWE ,Still Am He Was A True Gent
Not trying to put Nate down, but he had the first OFFICIAL quintuple double - Wilt had at least one before that, but blocks WERE NOT COUNTED during his entire career (though Nate didn't get them counted 'til he was past his prime). He didn't play for a "name" team, which puts his outstanding career under the radar - but when KAREEM says "he played me tougher than anyone", he at least had the respect of his peers.
Nate was by far the most complete center that we as Celtics fans at the time feared. Nate was much more complex than the others. He was less predictable and a huge challenge.
Yeah, Im an old guy. I saw all of those guys play. What is also forgotten about Nate Thurmond is his bad back. Even in his early 20s, he had constant back trouble. I dont remember the exact year they found the problem, maybe around 1968. But an alert Dr. put Nate on an exam table, and measured his leg length. They found one leg was like 3/4"-1" shorter than the other!! They had a special shoe made, and no more back problems. All I'll say are 2 things. His peers must've voted him into to 50 greatest players list, because Thurmond was criminally underrated in the press. The second thing is, yeah, Nate had to get the job done, but look who he learned from in his first year!! Some credit should go to Chamberlain....
2:26 For perspective - of the 20 highest "rebounds per game" for a season list, Nate is the ONLY entry on that list not named Wilt or Bill. I think those three MIGHT own the 30 highest list as well, but not 100% sure - Jerry Lucas might have snuck in somewhere in the low 20s ONCE.
@@Amick44 20.3 in 1969-1961. But I'm talking "20 HIGHEST" RPG average list, not a list of everyone that was over 20 RPG for a season Pettit DID make #23 on that list - but Lucas made #21 with a season just over 21 RPG and Nate was #19 with a slightly higher 21 RPG season. Jerry also managed #24 - with the last entry that exceeded 20 RPG. I do concede more folks made the Top 30 list than I remembered though. www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/trb_per_g_season.html Note that the all time ABA top list member (Haywood) barely cracks the top 30 for the NBA.
@@randysandberg5615 IMO the 1980s was the peak, but the decline after 2000 has gotten pretty steep, while the climb after the mid-50s was more gradual.
According to current under-30-year-old NBA "UA-cam experts", Nate Thurmond was a slow 6-5 white guy. You cannot convince them otherwise, and they refuse to even check.
Does not get anywhere the credit he should get. A great defensive player, rebounding and shot blocking. I mean a quadruple double. Chamberlain said Thurmond played him as tough as Russell. The Warriors should have never traded Chamberlain when they had them both. He had 18 rebounds in one quarter, and had over 40 in one game.
I’m not sure what Bill Russell says but I definitely know what Jabbar said. He said Nate Thurmond was the best defensive player he ever played against.
As a kid I carried his card in my wallet til it was worn to a frazzle. I'm sorry I did that now because the card basically disintegrated. But at least for a time Nate was always with me. Always.
I saw My first NBA game in person at the civic in SF . W's vs Bucks ,Nate vs Alcindor(a rookie) Kareem. Nate was physical against him but no cheap elbows or under cutting . For young people Nate was built like Dwight Howard . Two huge athletic men, smart players and better men . Nate was as classy a man as he was great at playing Basketball . That goes for Mr Attles too. Nate 's Quadruple Double YIKES. First time Kareem played in a reg season game his line was 5 Reb 2 ast 16 pts shot 35% in 42 min . Nate played 42 min as well had 17 Rebs and 10 pts 2ast they didn't count block shots back then. As a rookie Kareem avg 28pts 14 rebs and 4 ast made 51% OF HIS Shots. Think Nate made him have a bad nite. Nate played him as well as any player ever ,and Kareem is the true GOAT
At a Sonic basketball camp when I was young, a camper asked Tom Meschery who was better, Wilt or Russell? Meschery responded by saying exactly what you posted.
I'm confused by Al Attles comment at 3:29 that Nate's quadruple double was "against us". As mentioned in the video, the q-d occurred in Nate's first game with the Bulls which was against Atlanta, and that game was played 10/18/74. Al Attles was a lifetime Warriors guy, first as a player and then as a coach. In 1974, he was the head coach of the Warriors.
Where’s Shaq? He is still misappreciated. Feet of a ballerina and a fierce competitor and light years better than Bellamy and Mikan who I saw many times. And Tim Duncan and Hakeem?
@@Amick44 I forgot about Moses who I saw in high school at the annual Kutcher’s game. He was the undoubted top hs player but did nothing in the first half. I said to my fried, “Is this disappointing?” In the second half he played and scored over 20;points and over 20 rebounds. A great memory.
I read something several years ago that Wilt said that the player that gave him the most trouble was someone named Swede Holbrook, a 7-3 center on the Nationals team. I don't know for sure but it was probably on defense as he was not a great scorer. Swede was a white player to boot.
@@pappy374 I have to disagree about Ol Swede.... I saw a little bit of footage of him in the NBA..... I WAS STUNNED HOW FAST HIS BODY WAS MOVING AND HOW LIGHT ON HIS FEET HE WAS!... I can't remember where I saw it from....but look for it.... I was astonished! I had thought the same thing as you about him until I saw the footage.....It seems like in his real life reading about him, it look like he was involved in some mysterious activities outside of basketball whether good or bad I can not say.
@@brandonmartin7713 Oh, I didn't know that he had mysterious activities in his life! That does sound intriguing indeed. Wilt Chamberlain tells a funny story whereby he told Swede to fake right and then go left and he'd let him go past and Swede got confused and faked left and went right!
@@pappy374 That is a hilarious story!.... You should read some stuff on him.... His coach had a time with him! But look for that footage of him....It really shocked me! I thought he was going a stiff too! I was so wrong! He gave the Titan Chamberlain a time in a playoff round in the early 60s looking at the stats.... That quote maybe accurate.
I like Nate Thurmond but if you averaged 50 points against the league in 25 rebounds and more records than that wilt gave it to everybody I'm talking about wilt getting his in the league that was let's say 10 teams wilt got his on every one in the league even bill Russell got his to no one stop wilt but wilt
@@choward5430 Your right. They say that about Bill and Wilt all the time. The best collection of HOF centers came from the 60's and 70's. And they weren't 6'5" white guys.
The guy speaking that Rodman coud not rebound 20 balls is just stupid. The game's pace has changed so much that in the 1960s Rodman wpuld have avg. 30 rpg.
@@73Trident And you have to understand that the number has to be put in perspective. Twenty rebounds in the '60s is not twenty rebounds in the' 90s. It was easier in the 60's because the pace was faster, the efficiency lower and more opportunities to rebound.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 You also have to consider who you are trying to grab rebounds against. Rodman was a great rebounder, but he'd hardly grab any against Chamberlain, Russell or Thurmond.
One of the most underrated players ever, and a terrific person.
Nate, overshadowed in publicity by Wilt and Russ, was the guy who had us Celtic fans nervous. Nate Thurmond was a force to be reckoned with.
Thank you for remembering my childhood hero
Nate is underrated because of his humility and contribution to society unlike most of the super stars
Excellent. I'm so grateful I had several opportunities to see Nate play in person. I always felt Nate and Willie McCovey were the two classiest athletes in Bay Area history
I totally agree with your assessment.
DAMN STRAIGHT
SEEN HIM IN BATTLES WITH WILLIS REED IN N.Y. .AT TIMES YOU DIDNT FOLLOW THE BALL YOU WATCHED THEM BATTLE IN THE PAINT ...WHAT A WARRIOR
In my first NBA game I saw Nate Thurmond play against Bill Russell (Boston Celtics). I remember entering the arena and seeing how tall and massive Nate looked. Nate had a beautiful shot and had such defensive prowess. The Warriors won that game and Nate Thurmond was such a force. What was regrettable was that he was traded the year before the Warriors won their 1975 championship.
I was fortunate to see Nate play against Kareem in the 1972 playoffs. Nate outrebounded Kareem and almost outscored him for the series. He really was "Great".
Kareem shot 58% against the league during the regular season and only 42% against Thurmond in that series.
Wilt Chamberlain one said of Nate Thurmond. He was one of the best players in the NBA
Growing up in the Bay Area, I was lucky enough to see all of Bill Russell's home games at USF, as well as Wilt, Nate and Rick Barry play for the Warriors. Heaven for a basketball fan...
Rick Barry gets overlooked by many. Why? I believe it is because of his personality.
@@randysandberg5615 Totally agreed. Rick was a blur and Nate just great,
@@randysandberg5615 and time passages too. Rick, along with Baylor and Havlicek are overlooked way too often.
A true superstar Amazing Awesome Fantastic Incredible
I Met Him Outside Oakland Arean 1985 After Watching Him Play As Kid ,,,Yes From Distance I Said Hello Mr Thurmond ,I Was In AWE ,Still Am He Was A True Gent
I'd always look at the box score to see how Nate Thurmond HANDLED all of the great centers.
GREAT VIDEO SIR!
Not trying to put Nate down, but he had the first OFFICIAL quintuple double - Wilt had at least one before that, but blocks WERE NOT COUNTED during his entire career (though Nate didn't get them counted 'til he was past his prime).
He didn't play for a "name" team, which puts his outstanding career under the radar - but when KAREEM says "he played me tougher than anyone", he at least had the respect of his peers.
I remember Nate as a kid watching the Bulls in the mid 70s
Nate the great at Bowling Green played on the same team as Butch Komives who lead the NCAA in scoring in 63-64 , thanks to Nate's many rebounds .
Nate was by far the most complete center that we as Celtics fans at the time feared. Nate was much more complex than the others. He was less predictable and a huge challenge.
Yeah, Im an old guy. I saw all of those guys play. What is also forgotten about Nate Thurmond is his bad back. Even in his early 20s, he had constant back trouble. I dont remember the exact year they found the problem, maybe around 1968. But an alert Dr. put Nate on an exam table, and measured his leg length. They found one leg was like 3/4"-1" shorter than the other!! They had a special shoe made, and no more back problems. All I'll say are 2 things. His peers must've voted him into to 50 greatest players list, because Thurmond was criminally underrated in the press. The second thing is, yeah, Nate had to get the job done, but look who he learned from in his first year!! Some credit should go to Chamberlain....
2:26
For perspective - of the 20 highest "rebounds per game" for a season list, Nate is the ONLY entry on that list not named Wilt or Bill.
I think those three MIGHT own the 30 highest list as well, but not 100% sure - Jerry Lucas might have snuck in somewhere in the low 20s ONCE.
I believe Pettit averaged over 20 rpg once too.
@@Amick44 20.3 in 1969-1961.
But I'm talking "20 HIGHEST" RPG average list, not a list of everyone that was over 20 RPG for a season
Pettit DID make #23 on that list - but Lucas made #21 with a season just over 21 RPG and Nate was #19 with a slightly higher 21 RPG season.
Jerry also managed #24 - with the last entry that exceeded 20 RPG.
I do concede more folks made the Top 30 list than I remembered though.
www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/trb_per_g_season.html
Note that the all time ABA top list member (Haywood) barely cracks the top 30 for the NBA.
The NBA was much better in those days IMO.
@@randysandberg5615 IMO the 1980s was the peak, but the decline after 2000 has gotten pretty steep, while the climb after the mid-50s was more gradual.
My high school teacher said he used tutor nate Thurmond at bowling Green University;;:: nate the great ;;
2:00
Wilt at least partly FORCED that trade - had gotten fed up with never being all that close to a championship and wanted to go to a contender.
According to current under-30-year-old NBA "UA-cam experts", Nate Thurmond was a slow 6-5 white guy. You cannot convince them otherwise, and they refuse to even check.
Because most of the footage of Nate is black and white many think the players weren't athletic or skilled. They are wrong!
Thurmond was a PROBLEM. For opponents.
Does not get anywhere the credit he should get. A great defensive player, rebounding and shot blocking. I mean a quadruple double. Chamberlain said Thurmond played him as tough as Russell. The Warriors should have never traded Chamberlain when they had them both. He had 18 rebounds in one quarter, and had over 40 in one game.
Not many people can say they gave Wilt a run for his money playing against him.
I’m not sure what Bill Russell says but I definitely know what Jabbar said. He said Nate Thurmond was the best defensive player he ever played against.
Russell said the same thing.
Chamberlain, Lanier, Reed, and Jabbar all said Thurmond was the toughest to score against.
As a kid I carried his card in my wallet til it was worn to a frazzle. I'm sorry I did that now because the card basically disintegrated. But at least for a time Nate was always with me. Always.
I saw My first NBA game in person at the civic in SF . W's vs Bucks ,Nate vs Alcindor(a rookie) Kareem. Nate was physical against him but no cheap elbows or under cutting . For young people Nate was built like Dwight Howard .
Two huge athletic men, smart players and better men . Nate was as classy a man as he was great at playing Basketball . That goes for Mr Attles too. Nate 's
Quadruple Double YIKES. First time Kareem played in a reg season game his line was 5 Reb 2 ast 16 pts shot 35% in 42 min . Nate played 42 min as well had 17 Rebs and 10 pts 2ast they didn't count block shots back then. As a rookie Kareem avg 28pts 14 rebs and 4 ast made 51% OF HIS Shots. Think Nate made him have a bad nite.
Nate played him as well as any player ever ,and Kareem is the true GOAT
A better offensive player than Bill Russell, a better defensive player than Wilt Chamberlain. Nate was a combination of the two but in "reverse".
Brian Sam bill has twice as many offensive win shares as Thurmond don’t get me wrong I really respect Thurmond’s game
At a Sonic basketball camp when I was young, a camper asked Tom Meschery who was better, Wilt or Russell? Meschery responded by saying exactly what you posted.
I'm confused by Al Attles comment at 3:29 that Nate's quadruple double was "against us". As mentioned in the video, the q-d occurred in Nate's first game with the Bulls which was against Atlanta, and that game was played 10/18/74. Al Attles was a lifetime Warriors guy, first as a player and then as a coach. In 1974, he was the head coach of the Warriors.
Al was the Coach for Atlanta at the time before the Golden State Warriors..
@@eddiesoul4890 Are you sure about that? I can't find any evidence that he coached Atlanta, and he definitely didn't coach them in 1974.
It is interestesting that no center played kareem tougher on D than nate, old wilt, Lanier , RIP nate
4:23 who is it?
Anthony Davis with heart.
I have on my all time list of centers 1 Russell 2 Wilt 3 Kareem 4 Thurmond 4A Walt Bellamy 5 George Mikan he was the first and set the standard.
Where’s Shaq? He is still misappreciated. Feet of a ballerina and a fierce competitor and light years better than Bellamy and Mikan who I saw many times. And Tim Duncan and Hakeem?
At one time that was pretty accurate. When those guys played.
Moses, Hakeem and Shaq have moved in.
@@Amick44 I forgot about Moses who I saw in high school at the annual Kutcher’s game. He was the undoubted top hs player but did nothing in the first half. I said to my fried, “Is this disappointing?” In the second half he played and scored over 20;points and over 20 rebounds. A great memory.
In fairness to wilt he he held nate to .34 pct shooting in 67 finals while wilt shot 54 pct
Very similar player to moses fo! fo! fo! Malone 😊
Lebron Sr
I read something several years ago that Wilt said that the player that gave him the most trouble was someone named Swede Holbrook, a 7-3 center on the Nationals team. I don't know for sure but it was probably on defense as he was not a great scorer. Swede was a white player to boot.
I think that Wilt must have been messing around because Holbrook was not a great player or leaper.
@@pappy374 I have to disagree about Ol Swede.... I saw a little bit of footage of him in the NBA..... I WAS STUNNED HOW FAST HIS BODY WAS MOVING AND HOW LIGHT ON HIS FEET HE WAS!... I can't remember where I saw it from....but look for it.... I was astonished! I had thought the same thing as you about him until I saw the footage.....It seems like in his real life reading about him, it look like he was involved in some mysterious activities outside of basketball whether good or bad I can not say.
@@brandonmartin7713 Oh, I didn't know that he had mysterious activities in his life! That does sound intriguing indeed. Wilt Chamberlain tells a funny story whereby he told Swede to fake right and then go left and he'd let him go past and Swede got confused and faked left and went right!
@@pappy374 That is a hilarious story!.... You should read some stuff on him.... His coach had a time with him! But look for that footage of him....It really shocked me! I thought he was going a stiff too! I was so wrong! He gave the Titan Chamberlain a time in a playoff round in the early 60s looking at the stats.... That quote maybe accurate.
I like Nate Thurmond but if you averaged 50 points against the league in 25 rebounds and more records than that wilt gave it to everybody I'm talking about wilt getting his in the league that was let's say 10 teams wilt got his on every one in the league even bill Russell got his to no one stop wilt but wilt
6'11"? I thought Wilt played against 6'5" non-jumping white guys!
That's what Goliath hates would have you believe. Truth is, there were a lot of 6-10, 6-11 guys, and some 7 footers......
@@milojanis4901 I was playing devil's advocate. I know the truth because I saw it.
@@choward5430 Your right. They say that about Bill and Wilt all the time. The best collection of HOF centers came from the 60's and 70's. And they weren't 6'5" white guys.
@@73Trident exactly. Foolish disrespect to Wilt and Bill. Yes, they did face tough C's besides each other.
Look at Alvin Attles, the fastest player ever.
Well, Attles said Wilt was faster than him.
@@arravYT Wilt ran 100 yds in 9.5 seconds, and that's a fact, but I remember Wilt himself said he used to ran vs him and quite often he used to win.
AL.....THE DESTROYER!!
LeBrons father allegedly.
The guy speaking that Rodman coud not rebound 20 balls is just stupid. The game's pace has changed so much that in the 1960s Rodman wpuld have avg. 30 rpg.
Are you trying to compare Rodman to Bill, Wilt, Nate and Walt Bellamy. You need to put the bong. You are high as hell.
@@73Trident And you have to understand that the number has to be put in perspective. Twenty rebounds in the '60s is not twenty rebounds in the' 90s. It was easier in the 60's because the pace was faster, the efficiency lower and more opportunities to rebound.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 You also have to consider who you are trying to grab rebounds against. Rodman was a great rebounder, but he'd hardly grab any against Chamberlain, Russell or Thurmond.
@@pappy374 really? Rodman was the scientist of rebounding. If he didn't have problems with Shaq he wouldn't have problems with Nate and Wilt.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 Shaq was never a great rebounder; he never lead the league in his entire career.