Warriors great Nate Thurmond dead at 74

Nate Thurmond, an NBA Hall of Famer and seven-time All-Star who was a dominant force in the middle for most of the Warriors’ first decade on the West Coast, died Saturday after a battle with leukemia. The 6-foot-11 Mr. Thurmond, voted one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in 1996, played 11 of his 14 seasons with the Warriors and had been a Community Ambassador for the team for decades. In typical Nate fashion, he did not let many people know about his illness and how serious it was and, unfortunately, it proved to be one of the few things in life tougher than him. “Looking back,” said Attles, he was as ferocious as any player in the history of the game on the court, but one of the kindest and nicest souls in his everyday life. In addition to his All-Star selections, Mr. Thurmond was a five-time All-Defensive Team selection. “I’m just not a tricky basketball player,” he told Sport magazine. In the same article, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was quoted as having told Basketball Digest: “He plays me better than anybody ever has.” Warriors executive board member Jerry West, who faced Mr. Thurmond during the prime years of both men, called it an extremely difficult day for me. Wilt Chamberlain was the team’s center in Mr. Thurmond’s rookie season and led the team into the 1964 NBA Finals (where they lost to the Celtics in five games). [...] when the Warriors began the 1964-65 season 11-33, Chamberlain was traded to Philadelphia and Mr. Thurmond moved into the starting lineup. In the team’s first post-Chamberlain game, Mr. Thurmond scored 21 points and went on to average 16.5 points and 18.1 rebounds per game — the first of 10 consecutive seasons he would average at least 13 points and 13.8 rebounds. Led by Mr. Thurmond and Rick Barry, the Warriors returned to the Finals in 1967, but lost to Chamberlain and the 76ers in six games. After the last of his All-Star seasons in 1973-74, Mr. Thurmond was traded to Chicago in September 1974 for Clifford Ray and a 1975 first-round draft pick. The Warriors won the NBA title — their first on the West Coast — the next season. While with the Bulls, Mr. Thurmond posted the first record quadruple double in league history when he had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks in an Oct. 18, 1974, game against Atlanta. Careers stats: 15 points, 15 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.1 blocks per game First Team NBA All-Rookie, 1963-64 First Team NBA All-Defensive (1968-69 and ‘70-71); Second Team NBA All-Defensive (’71-72, ‘72-73, ‘73-74) First quadruple-double in NBA history in 1974