Swen Nater

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Swen Nater
Nater shooting with UCLA in 1972–73
Personal information
Born (1950-01-14) January 14, 1950 (age 74)
Den Helder, Netherlands
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolWilson (Long Beach, California)
College
NBA draft1973: 1st round, 16th overall pick
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career1973–1985
PositionCenter
Number31, 10, 35, 41
Career history
1973Virginia Squires
1973–1975San Antonio Spurs
1975–1976New York Nets
1976Virginia Squires
1976–1977Milwaukee Bucks
1977–1983Buffalo Braves / San Diego Clippers
1983–1984Los Angeles Lakers
1984–1985Australian Udine
Career highlights and awards
Career ABA and NBA statistics
Points8,980 (12.4 ppg)
Rebounds8,340 (11.6 rpg)
Assists1,235 (1.7 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Swen Erick Nater (born January 14, 1950) is a Dutch former professional basketball player. He played primarily in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), and is the only player to have led both the NBA and ABA in rebounding. Nater was a two-time ABA All-Star and was the 1974 ABA Rookie of the Year. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles.

Early life[edit]

Nater was born in the Netherlands in Den Helder.[1] His parents divorced when he was three years old. When his mother remarried and the family's economic situation deteriorated, she, her husband, and Nater's younger brother moved to the United States, leaving Nater and his sister in an orphanage. After three years it appeared they would remain in the Netherlands until a television show, It Could Be You (a forerunner to This Is Your Life), discovered the situation and brought the two siblings to America to be reunited—on TV—with the rest of the family. At age nine, he was in a new country and did not speak a word of English.[2][3] He took his stepfather's name and was known as Swen Langeberg.[4][5]

Nater did not get along with his stepfather, who did not want him to play basketball.[5] Nater graduated from Long Beach Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. He tried out for their basketball team as a junior, but he was cut.[3][1] He had arrived at the first practice barefoot but was told by the coach he needed shoes. His family unable to afford them, Nater returned to practice with shoes stolen from a teammate. The coach told Nater to leave. He did not try out as a senior.[1]

College career[edit]

Nater attended and played basketball at Cypress College, a junior college in Cypress, California (where he met his wife, Marlene). He played little as a freshman, but was a Community College All-American as a sophomore.[2] He earned a scholarship to UCLA.[2] After leaving Cypress, he changed back to his father's name, Nater.[5] He had already moved out from his stepfather's home after he forbade Nater from playing at Cypress.[4]

Nater redshirted his first year with the UCLA Bruins.[1] He helped John Wooden's squads win two NCAA titles. He was a backup to Bill Walton, and averaged just 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game as a senior. He never started a collegiate game—his primary role was helping to develop Walton in practice.[6][7]

Professional career[edit]

Nater was drafted by The Floridians in the 1972 ABA Draft, and then by the Virginia Squires in the June 1972 ABA dispersal draft after the Floridians' demise.[8][9] Nater was also drafted in the first round of the 1973 NBA draft with the 16th overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks;[1] he was the first NBA first-round pick to have played in the NCAA without ever starting a college game.[3] Milwaukee offered him $50,000.[10] In August 1973, he opted to sign a three-year, $300,000 contract with the Squires, who spread the payments over seven years.[9][10] On November 21, 1973, the Squires traded Nater to the San Antonio Spurs for a draft pick and $300,000.[9]

With the Spurs, Nater was the ABA Rookie of the Year after averaging 14.1 points and 12.6 rebounds for the season.[7][10] He led the ABA in field goal percentage in 1974 and led the league in rebounding in 1975. He was named to the All-ABA Second Team in 1974 and 1975 and participated in the ABA All-Star Game both seasons.[8] During his three seasons in the ABA, Nater played for the Spurs, Squires, and the New York Nets.

Nater's NBA career began with the Milwaukee Bucks. During the 1976-77 NBA season, Nater amassed three games where he had at least 20 rebounds and 20 points, including a 30 point and 33 rebound performance in a 126-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks on December 19, 1976.[11][12] After the season ended, Milwaukee traded Nater to the Buffalo Braves for Buffalo's first round draft pick, which Milwaukee used to select Marques Johnson. When the Braves moved to San Diego and became the Clippers a year later, Nater became a local favorite. Nater led the NBA in rebounding average during the 1979–80 season, making him the only player ever to lead both the NBA and ABA in rebounding.[7] On January 12, 1982, he had surgery to remove bone chips from his right knee. The injury limited him to just 14 games in 1981–82 and seven in 1982–83.[13]

Before the 1983–84 season, Nater was traded by the Clippers along with a just-drafted Byron Scott to the Los Angeles Lakers for Norm Nixon, Eddie Jordan, and a 1986 second-round draft pick (which would eventually be dealt to the Phoenix Suns and become Jeff Hornacek). The Lakers acquired him to backup Kareem Abdul Jabbar.[14] Nater and Scott helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals that year, but the next season the team did not offer him a guaranteed contract.

Nater played for Australian Udine in the Italian League, where he was the best paid player and led the league in rebounding even though the team ended up being relegated. The next season, he initially accepted an offer from Barcelona in the Spanish League, but ultimately he changed his mind and decided to retire.

Career statistics[edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

ABA[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1973–74 Virginia 17 - 22.0 .556* .000 .630 9.1 1.0 0.4 0.9 12.6
1973–74 San Antonio 62 - 32.3 .551* .000 .740 13.6 1.8 0.4 0.8 14.5
1974–75 San Antonio 78 - 34.8 .542 .000 .752 16.4* 1.2 0.6 1.1 15.1
1975–76 New York 43 - 23.6 .485 .000 .718 10.3 0.4 0.4 0.6 8.7
1975–76 Virginia 33 - 23.5 .498 .000 .675 9.8 1.1 0.4 0.8 11.3
Career 233 - 29.5 .532 .000 .722 13.1 1.2 0.5 0.9 13.0

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1973–74 San Antonio 7 - 30.1 .553 .000 .714 11.7 2.1 0.4 0.7 14.9
1974–75 San Antonio 6 - 39.0 .476 .000 .429 16.5 1.0 0.2 1.0 14.8
Career 13 - 25.0 .515 .000 .543 13.9 1.6 0.8 0.3 14.8

NBA[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1976–77 Milwaukee 72 - 27.2 .528 - .754 12.0 1.5 0.8 0.7 13.0
1977–78 Buffalo 78 - 35.6 .504 - .765 13.2 2.8 0.5 0.6 15.5
1978–79 San Diego 79 - 25.4 .569 - .800 8.9 1.8 0.5 0.4 10.7
1979–80 San Diego 81 - 35.3 .554 .000 .718 15.0* 2.9 0.6 0.5 13.4
1980–81 San Diego 82 - 34.3 .553 .000 .795 12.4 2.4 0.6 0.6 15.6
1981–82 San Diego 21 7 27.4 .577 1.000 .747 9.1 1.4 0.3 0.4 12.5
1982–83 San Diego 7 0 7.3 .300 .000 1.000 1.9 0.1 0.1 0.0 2.3
1983–84 Los Angeles 69 0 12.0 .490 .000 .692 3.8 0.4 0.4 0.1 4.5
Career 489 7 28.4 .537 .250 .760 10.8 2.0 0.5 0.5 12.2

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1983–84 Los Angeles 17 - 8.6 .500 .000 .769 2.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 3.4

After the NBA[edit]

He built the basketball program at Christian Heritage College in San Diego, California, and coached from 1985 to 1995.[15] He left the position because it "was high on work and low on pay.” He was living in El Cajon, California, where his two daughters were born and raised.[16]

Nater later lived in Enumclaw, Washington,[17] where he went to work for Costco, for whom he was a sporting goods assistant buyer.[6][15] and then in Des Moines, Washington overlooking Puget Sound, with his wife Dr. Wendy Ghiora.

Nater has also co-authored books with basketball coaches Wooden and Pete Newell.

Publications[edit]

  • Wooden, John; Nater, Swen (2006). John Wooden's UCLA Offense. Human Kinetics. ISBN 9780736061803.
  • Newell, Pete; Nater, Swen (2007). Pete Newell's Playing Big. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. ISBN 9780736068093.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Hazeltine, Rick (December 17, 1988). "LOOKING UP TO HIM : Swen Nater Is a Lifetime Rebounder With Valuable Lessons to Pass On". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "ABOUT COACH SWEN NATER". CoachSwen.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  3. ^ a b c Walton, Bill (February 24, 2004). "What a long, strange trip it's been, Swen". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Hamelin, Joe (December 11, 1982). "A God-Fearing Man". The Sacramento Bee. p. C1. Retrieved May 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c Hiserman, Mike (June 9, 1984). "Once a Barefoot Octcast, Swen NAter Has Proven He Can Survive". Los Angeles Times. Part III-15. Retrieved May 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Raley, Dan (January 9, 2008). "Where Are They Now?, Seattle Post Intelligencer". Archived from the original on March 5, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c Hartman, Steve; Smith, Matt (2009). The Great Book of Los Angeles Sports Lists. Running Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780786748877. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  8. ^ a b "BasketballReference.com Swen Nater page". Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "Remember the ABA: Oakland Oaks/Washington Caps/Virginia Squires Year-to-Year Franchise Notes". Remembertheaba.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  10. ^ a b c Carr, Al (June 26, 1974). "Success Doesn't Surprise Nater". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "StaTuesday: Milwaukee Bucks who saw 20-20". FOX Sports. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, December 19, 1976". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  13. ^ Norcross, Don (April 7, 1983). "Nater knows the pain that Walton suffered". Times-Advocate. p. D1. Retrieved April 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Bonk, Thomas (October 13, 1983). "Nater Is Happy To Have a Job He Never Thought He Wanted". Los Angeles Times. Part III, pp. 1, 20. Retrieved April 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b Broussard, Chris (January 11, 2004). "THEN AND NOW -- Swen Nater; Big Man Loved the Game, Then Learned to Play It". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  16. ^ Ringer, Sandy (November 10, 1997). "Enumclaw's Nater Grew Up With Game". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  17. ^ What a long, strange trip it's been, Swen, Espn.co.uk, Retrieved 2018-12-11.

External links[edit]

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