Talking To Nate Thurmond, The Hall Of Famer Who’s A Legend In Golden State And Cleveland

No player in history has meant more to the two franchises in this year’s NBA Finals than Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond. The 14-year NBA veteran and seven-time All-Star is the only man to have his jersey number, 42, retired by both Golden State and Cleveland.

Except for his 15 months as a member of the Chicago Bulls, Thurmond has lived his entire life in either Ohio or California; even during his Bulls tenure, Thurmond lived in San Francisco during in the off-season. Like LeBron James, Nate Thurmond was born, raised, and played his high school ball in Akron. After four stellar years at Bowling Green—yes, it’s in Ohio—the Warriors made Thurmond the third overall pick in the 1963 Draft. The Warriors lost to the Celtics in the 1964 Finals, Thurmond’s first season as a pro, and would lose again in the 1967 Finals, this time to the 76ers. Thurmond would never play in the NBA Finals again.

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In 1975, when the Warriors won their only championship as a West Coast team, Thurmond was in a Chicago Bulls uniform and in the last act of his career. His sole full season in Chicago was an effective one—in his first game with the team, he recorded the NBA’s very first official quadruple double, a 22-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist, 12-block performance against the Atlanta Hawks—but ended with a loss to his former team in the Western Conference Finals.

Thurmond moved on to the Cavs in November of 1975, and that team was the first in Cleveland history to make the postseason, and the first to finish a season with more wins than losses. But after defeating the Washington Bullets in the Eastern Conference Semis, Cleveland center Jim Chones broke his foot in a pre-Conference Finals practice and Thurmond’s last best chance for a ring was gone. The Cavs fell in six to the Celtics, who went on to win yet another title, this time over the Suns, in the ’76 Finals. After one more season with Cleveland, Thurmond was done.

Thurmond returned to San Francisco, and never left; he lives there today with his wife Marci; Marci’s sister Barbara resides in Cleveland and is, according to Thurmond, “a die-hard Cavaliers fan.” Along with former Warriors player and coach Al Attles, Thurmond makes appearances as a Warriors Legend & Ambassador. He sees “28 to 32” games a year in person, and watches almost all the rest on television. He’ll be watching when one of his teams becomes a champion.

One of the very few humans who could do this to Wilt Chamberlain. — Photo by Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports

“I’d Never Been To California”

My high school coach, Joe Seigfreth, was a graduate of Bowling Green. He was always talking Bowling Green. I went to Ohio State for a visit. It was huge. They were telling me that I’d need a bicycle to get to certain classes. Didn’t appeal to me. My high school good friend and teammate, Elijah Chatman, and I went to Bowling Green for a visit on a Sunday. I never will forget it. Just the ambiance of this small campus and the big trees when we drove in the main entrance got me. The gym was raggedy, but the ambiance of the campus got me, and in the back of my ear was my coach saying, This is a good place for you to go. And I respected and loved my high school coach, Joe Seigfreth, so hence Bowling Green.

***

I didn’t even know it was draft day. I had no idea. I went to lunch at the Commons, where the athletes and some others had lunch, and a guy came up to me and said, You were drafted by San Francisco Warriors. I said, Oh, wow. Draft day was today? And I said, “You must have made a mistake. They have Wilt Chamberlain.” I got back to the dorm and I found out later that the guy was right. And maybe a day or two after that I got a call from somebody from the San Francisco Warriors. But they never told me that they were scouting me. I had no idea. So it’s completely different than it was back in 1963.

I’d never been to California. The only thing that I related to California was the Rice-A-Roni commercials. Both of my parents were crying like babies. They took me to the airport. When I got on the plane I was crying. I told the stewardess I had something in my eye.

Nobody picked me up. No limo. I got in a cab and went to the Jack Tar Hotel, which is now deceased. Sat on the bed, and started unpacking my clothes, and as I was doing that I felt the place move, and it was an earthquake. My first four hours in San Francisco. But at that time I had never seen anybody from the team. They came later that evening, but it wasn’t like today when you get in the limo and blah blah blah. None of that. Get in a cab. Come on in. I remember driving in and seeing these houses that are connected and they’re different colors and all that, and it was kind of fascinating. It was a big difference from Ohio.

I wasn’t really that intimidated. I was trying to tell my parents, I’m not going to Vietnam or something like that. I’m going to a job, and I’m going to be a professional athlete. So I cried because my parents were crying so much, but I was looking forward to playing basketball. And in the new city, I knew that I was going to have some teammates.

It took me a while to get acclimated. There’s no question about that. I will say this now: San Francisco is a very small city. It’s a major city, but it’s very small land area-wise. It’s seven by seven. You can sit San Francisco on the east side of Cleveland or the west side of Cleveland and have plenty of room left over. So I finally meet some teammates. You know, there was no time to show me the ropes. We went right to training camp in San Jose. I got right into basketball. I got right into dealing with Wilt Chamberlain who was in front of me every day in practice. It was a learning curve, no question about it. They had nobody like him in the Mid-American Conference, that’s for sure.

That first year, after Christmas or so, I called my mother and I said, “Hey, that bedroom you’re saving for me, rent it out because I won’t be back.” The city was very cosmopolitan, a lot of different types of people, a lot of different restaurants. I remember a guy on the team by the name of George Lee took me to a Chinese restaurant. That was my first experience with real Chinese food. I loved it. He did the ordering. I started out on a cultural experience that my wife and I are enjoying to this day. We go out to eat maybe four or five times a week, especially in the summertime. Just love the different kinds of food that you can get here. I fell in love with the city. I never did like snow.

One of probably twenty of these from this game. And every other game. — Photo by Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports

“It Was Going To Be An Easy Transition”

When I got the call I was going to Cleveland, I was ecstatic because my one and only sibling, who I’d been close to all my life, my brother, was a schoolteacher in Cleveland. And it was going to be an easy transition because my parents were down the street in Akron, both living at the time, so it was a godsend. I wish that I had gone directly from San Francisco, if I had to leave San Francisco, to Cleveland.

I loved my year and a half in Cleveland, no question about it. I still talk to Campy (Russell), Austin (Carr), Chones, Bingo (Smith). But, you know, I spent 11 years out here. I’ve been living out here since 1963, and I’m still employed by the Warriors, so, hey, I’m a Warrior guy. But let me quickly add this: if Golden State was playing against Detroit and Detroit happened to win, I would be miserable. But since Golden State is playing against the Cavs, if the Cavs happen to win I won’t be so hurt. I have an allegiance.

***

You hate to leave a team and that very next year they win the championship. But they added Phil Smith, who was one of the top rookies, and they added Jamaal Wilkes [who was Rookie of the Year]. Now, I didn’t get to play with guys like that. There were many years out here that we were very lean on our roster. And that can be looked at. For example, I played with one guy who was on the Top 50 [list of the NBA’s Greatest Players]. Bill Russell played with six or seven. And this is not sour grapes. This is just facts. So when people say, “Well, you left and they won a championship, yeah, they added two really quality players to help that along.” I was able to live with it. I mean, I never thought that I was keeping them from winning the championship.

There was some guys on that team that I went to war with: Al Attles, Jeff Mullins, Clyde Lee, a couple other guys, so once they beat us, hey, there was no other team that I would want to win. So that made it a little easier too, once they bounced us. But for a week after they bounced us, I was miserable.

“Maybe You Should Put An Asterisk On My Jersey”

I’m honored [to have my number retired in Cleveland], but I do feel a little squeamish hanging up there with players who really did their work for the Cavs: Austin Carr, Bingo Smith, Larry Nance. I feel a little squeamish being up there in that rafter, because what I did was a lot of inspiration. I do think I was helpful in that year that we won the Central Division, but it wasn’t in labor so much on the floor. So it’s symbolic. Maybe you should put an asterisk on my jersey, and I wouldn’t be mad.

Now, Kevin Love wore 42. I was going to let him have that. He could take that down out of the rafters. I would gladly have given that 42 to him while he was playing with the Cavs. It was a nice gesture, but I didn’t earn it there. I don’t look at that and say, Oh boy, I did some real work for the Cavs. No. I loved them. They loved me. I was a prodigal son coming home, so to speak, and we did win.

Let me also add, you can always say, We woulda, we shoulda, but if Chones hadn’t broken his foot, we would’ve won. We had the best record in the league in the second half of the season. We were rolling, and we were tough. I had a couple bad breaks in my career as far as the championship thing, and that was the biggest one. We had all the pieces. Campy and I and Footsie Walker would come in the game, completely turn it around coming off the bench. You know, I could plug up the hole. I mean, we had it going on. So when Chones broke his foot in practice, I was crushed. I knew. I wouldn’t say we couldn’t do it without him. I tried to battle Cowens as best I could, but I was old. I’ll never get over that, seeing Chones in the locker room and he’s on crutches, knowing he wasn’t going to play no more. I was crushed.

Even without Chones, they cheated us out of a game up in Boston. They fouled me out on a play with Cowens where I didn’t touch him. There wasn’t no question at all. We’re in Boston. We were leading in that game. You know, Red’s sitting up there smoking on a cigar and the ref got cigar smoke in his eye. But you look back and, boy, that’s one that’s hard to swallow. That broken bone in Chones’ foot at practice, that’s hard to swallow.

Elevation. — Photo by David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

“We Do Not Have A Knucklehead In The Group”

I have the [satellite] package, so I see certain players that I really like to follow. I’ll look at the lineup for that night and I’ll catch LeBron or I’ll catch Durant. I’ll catch Kobe. Obviously I watch all the Warriors games, but there are certain players around the league that I love to see play.

Let me say this about LeBron: I respect him. I respect him to the utmost. I think that him coming home was a wonderful thing. I was elated when he came back to northeastern Ohio. He was a guy who grew up there, like I did, in Akron, but played for the Cavs while he was young, and now is coming back as a leader, a great ballplayer, and is doing so much for the economy in northeastern Ohio. So, hey, my hat’s off to him and what he’s done, and just the way he’s handled himself during his career. In interviews he’s always gracious to his teammates. Just a tremendous guy. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet him. Maybe one day our paths will cross. But I admire him greatly.

You know, there’s only 19,586 or whatever that can get into Oracle Arena, but trust me there are Warrior fans all over the Bay Area, and that 19,000 plus represents the rabid fever for the Warriors. I mean, they’ve been screaming for the last ten years, and it’s only been three or four that we’ve been relevant. So all over the city people are “Go Warriors.” The sports pages are filled with it. And one of the reasons is that we have twelve players and, we are very, very fortunate, we do not have a knucklehead in that group. We do not have a knucklehead in the group. Everybody relates to Curry. They relate to Draymond Green. They relate to Thompson, Iguodala. Harrison Barnes. They think he’s going to be a senator one day.

We won 51 games out here last year, and our defense was good. After 25 games (this year), I think we were 22 and 3. And I called Rick Barry. There was wind of the fact that they were going to honor the championship team from 40 years ago. I said to Rick, I think they’re going to put another championship banner up.

The game has changed. Most teams in the NBA depend a lot upon the three-point shot. It’s not center-oriented. I told Rick, We have two of the best, and we have a couple more on our team that are real good from three-point range, and our defense is smothering, so I think we’re going to win the NBA Championship. And we went back and forth on that. But I saw that coming, and we’ll see if I’m right all the way. But they have a great mix of shooters, defense in Bogut and Ezeli, and when you have guys coming off the bench with the experience of Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, and also David Lee. Our second team could do a little damage on the East Coast.

“I Want To See The Best Team Beat The Best Team”

Now, let me follow that up by saying, I can’t read how good Cleveland has become. They’ve gotten better as the season has progressed but, please excuse me, they’re playing in a junior league. So I don’t know how good they are. I do know that they were well over fifty percent in the 32 games that they played against the West, but they haven’t had a steady diet of it. When you’re playing against Milwaukee, New Jersey (sic), Philadelphia, Detroit, the Magic, excuse me, you’re not in the senior league. We’ve got a senior league out here.

And again, we have two of the greatest shooters I’ve ever seen. Curry being the best I’ve ever seen, especially from three-point range, but the guy can shoot from anywhere. He shot a lay-up, off the dribble, high off the board, over Dwight Howard’s hand the other night. That’s one of the best shots I’ve ever seen. He scooped it off the dribble and just nicked the board above the square, and it dropped down in. And then they came down the next time and he did one right-handed. These guys today, some of them are shooting three-pointers as well as we shot from two-point land. If you look up Jerry West, if you look up his lifetime stats, he shot 45, 46 percent. And he’s the logo. And (Kyle) Korver, although that’s all he can do, he shot 49 percent from three-point. It’s a different era as far as the three-point, and it’s a different era as far as the skills of the players. It’s a different era as far as the three-point, and it’s a different era as far as the skills of the players. Kyrie Irving with his handle. Steph Curry with his handle. Come on. Nobody did that in my day.

I would say I’m looking for three things: number one, who is going to guard LeBron? If they put Draymond Green on LeBron, then who is going to keep Tristan Thompson off the boards? Number two, who is going to guard Stephen Curry from their side? And number three, I know our defense is good, but is their defense up to stopping our offense? Because we have about eight guys who can hurt you at any given time. In the last game Harrison Barnes had 24 points, and nine points in a row. You leave our guys open, we can burn you. From three-point range we have about four guys that shoot a pretty decent percentage, so is your defense up to that task? I don’t know if you’ve had to concentrate on as many guys as you will have to concentrate on in this series. I think our defense will hold up, because you don’t have Love splitting the four, and you don’t have a healthy Kyrie. And I wish everybody was healthy. I wish Love was healthy. I wish Kyrie was a hundred percent. I want to see the best team beat the best team.

They’ve got a guy on their team, he wears number 23, doesn’t he? He has taken Tristan Thompson, Dellavedova, J. R. Smith, and Shumpert, he has made those guys think they should be on an All-Star team. As far as making everybody better, I don’t think there’s anybody better than LeBron at doing that. I’m sorry. I mean, Michael did it, but LeBron is so big that you’ve got to try to keep him out of the middle. If you leave a crack open, and those guys are shooting well, he’s going to get a hard point pass to them. They don’t have to reach down by their knees or all that stuff. He’s so big he’s going to put it on point, so I think it’s going to be a six, seven game series.

We have home court advantage. That may mean a lot. And I know they can roar at the Q, but Oracle? Shoo! We don’t pipe in no noise either.