Legendary NBA Hall of Famer reveals he has an incurable disease
One of the greatest little men in basketball history has an incurable heart disease.
Nate “Tiny” Archibald may stand only 6 feet 1, but he is still the only player to ever lead the NBA in both scoring and assists.
But as Archibald recently told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, “My [heart] could go any minute. But I’m not ready for that. I want to be around for a long time.”
The 69-year-old New York native learned of his prognosis about a year ago, having been inspired to have a checkup after watching Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins and Dwayne “Pearl” Washington die at early ages.
Doctors told Archibald he has amyloidosis, a disease where protein buildup prevents the heart from pumping blood to the body correctly.
“What’s happening is my heart is beating too fast and too hard,” he said. “There’s blockage in there and we gotta find a way to dissolve some of it. My heart is taking a pounding, and that blockage is going to cause it to malfunction. …
“What I have is really rare. There’s no pills, nothing they have found that works. I’m being tested all the time, just hoping, you know?”
Archibald spent the early part of his career with the Cincinnati Royals, who became the Kansas City Kings.
In the 1972-73 season, he pulled off the unprecedented feat of leading the league in scoring (34 points per game) and assists (11.4 per game), winning the Sporting News MVP award.
After sitting out the 1977-78 season with an Achilles injury, he was traded to Boston, although many experts thought his tank was empty.
The experts were wrong, however, and his leadership blended with young players like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, propelling the Celtics to the 1981 NBA title.
Archibald spent five seasons in Boston before finishing up with Milwaukee in 1983-84.
He was one of the early playground legends in New York, setting the stage for stars like Stephon Marbury and Kenny Anderson, who offered his prayers for Archibald on Wednesday.
My prays are with my idol Tiny Archibald thanks for being a real one ! Stay healthy love you my guy!! pic.twitter.com/eTXnWzMMvC
— Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1) February 21, 2018
Archibald was a teacher in the city school system following his NBA retirement and was active in working with young players.
He hopes that his story will lead others to seek medical exams.
“In our [New York-New Jersey-Connecticut] tri-state area, we send out about 70 emails asking retired players to get checked, but how many show up? Not even 10 of them,” Archibald says. “They don’t think it’s important. They say, ‘I don’t need screening. I feel good.’
“Well, you know what? That’s what I used to say.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
