After retirement, Thurmond returned to San Francisco and opened a restaurant, Big Nate’s BBQ, after a brief attempt at broadcasting.
Advertisement
Melvin said he’d see Thurmond from time to time at Warriors games and called the longtime center “one of the great athletes in Bay Area history”. We’ll miss his presence in his customary seats at our games next season, but his legacy will live forever.
Thurmond was traded to the Bulls at the end of the 1973-1974 season, a few years after the Warriors became known as the Golden State Warriors. He attended Akron’s Central Hower High School and later Bowling Green State University where he honed his basketball skills, according to NBA.com.
He finished with career averages of 15 points, once breaking 20 for five years in a row, and 15 rebounds, including a three-season run of 21.3, 22 and 19.7 boards.
“Looking back, 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”, Al Attles, a former player, coach and general manager with the Warriors, said in a statement.
Thurmond – whose playing career overlapped with those of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Walt Bellamy, Bob Lanier and others – was named an NBA All-Star seven times. The Warriors also retired his number.
Thurmond played for the Golden State Warriors for 11 seasons in the ’60s and ’70s before finishing his career with the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Advertisement
Dealt again early in 1975-76, this time to Cleveland, Thurmond helped lead the heretofore woebegone Cavaliers to the famed ‘Miracle of Richfield,’ downing the defending Eastern champion Washington Bullets prior to losing to a Boston Celtics team that would go on to win that year’s title. “R.I.P Akron’s own Nate Thurmond. One for All.’ code”, the statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences to Nate’s wife, Marci, and their family during this hard time”.
