Nate Thurmond

Critics suggest that the 6-foot-11-inch Nate Thurmond provided the best mix of offense and defense in basketball history. With quickness, long arms, smooth outside shooting touch, tenacious rebounding, classic shot-blocking ability, strength, and total team attitude, Thurmond was a perfectly balanced player. First starring at Bowling Green State University under Hall of Fame coach Harold Anderson, Thurmond then logged 14 NBA seasons with San Francisco, Golden State, Chicago, and Cleveland. The defender Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar least wanted to face, Thurmond made NBA history by grabbing 18 rebounds in one quarter against Baltimore. On opening night in 1974, his tally of 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots made him the first player ever to record a quadruple-double. When he retired in 1977, Thurmond had collected 14,464 rebounds and scored 14,437 points, a difference of only 27 for his career.