photo: si.com
During this holiday season, I’ll be dipping into the archives to offer up some updated goodies in the form of some of the most delectable “The Playground Gave Us…” joints from ‘08.
The time has come to pay homage to Tiny, the ultimate point guard.
As a skinny kid that always looked much younger than his actual age, Nathaniel “Tiny” Archibald insulated himself from the worst elements of the South Bronx with a ball and a hoop.
“We paid $109.00 a month rent and got the neighborhood for free,” he once said. “We were overcharged for both.”
Born and raised in a two-bedroom apartment in the Patterson Projects, the oldest of seven kids, Tiny lived and breathed the playground. When he wasn’t outside, he was the first to arrive at the P.S. 18 Community Center when the doors opened at 3pm. He was always the last to leave.
Mentored by Floyd Lane, (the great lefty for the City College of New York (CCNY) team that captured both the NIT and NCAA chips in 1950) Tiny, as an awestruck kid, would watch as players like Wilt Chamberlain, Meadowlark Lemon, Satch Sanders and others got their runs in at the P.S. 18 gym.
On the outdoor uptown asphalt, at Clark Junior High and the P.S. 18 Commmunity Center at night, Tiny acquired a ridiculous conglomeration of handles, vision, head fakes, body shakes, feints, a jaguar-like burst and a smooth feel for the rhythms, nuance and personality of every game situation.
photo: si.com
Before getting bizmark for Dewitt Clinton HS, where he captured the city crown in ‘66, the streets were already watching.
One fall day in ‘64, while shooting jumpers at the Patterson Projects, Tiny heard about a run at St. Mary’s playground. Squeezing through hundreds of spectators to get a front row seat, he saw The Goat slamming backwards, Helicopter swatting shots into the street and Satch Sanders flashing downcourt to lead fast breaks.
When one team was suddenly in need of a guard, Tiny popped out onto the court as the crowd, and some players, laughed at the diminutive, bony, baby-faced adolescent. But once the rock was in his hands, the laughing transformed into a roaring ovation. He whisked by a startled 6-foot-4 college player, driving from the top of the key down the right side of the lane. Floating through the air, he saw Helicopter elevating. Somehow, Tiny slid the ball between the Helicopter’s windmill and flipped in an elegant lay. And the crowd went bonkers!
He almost dropped out of HS when bad grades kept him off the Clinton team as a sophomore, but held on to the dream. As a junior, his yo-yo handles, laser like passes and lefty J had teammate Walter Robertson – the younger brother of Pablo Robertson (who would go on to become an NCAA champ at Loyola U. in Chicago and immortalized as a Harlem Globetrotter because of the cartoon) – telling the head coach to give Tiny more burn.
photo: si.com
While tearing it up at UTEP, he was overshadowed by Kareem’s exploits at UCLA. He was an afterthought to the scoring and passing wizardry of The Pistol, Pete Maravich, at LSU in addtion to Calvin Murphy at Niagra. A second round pick, he outplayed both of those guards in averaging 40 points in various all-star games. Tiny was named MVP of the East/West game in Louisville and the Aloha Classic in Hawaii where he dropped 51, parlaying the annihilation he delivered into first round dollars.
Even during and after a Hall of Fame pro career, Tiny came back to the city to work with, encourage and elevate kids, mentoring through his love of the game.
photo: si.com
He also mentored the great Tim Hardaway (similar to Rod Strickland’s tutelege of Derrick Rose as an assistant coach at Memphis) while serving as an assistant coach at the University of Texas-El Paso.
“That’s the man right there,” Hardaway once said. “He had a lot of flair. That’s one of the reasons I went to UTEP, because Nate Archibald went there. He was there for two years as an assistant coach and taught me a lot about how to play the game.”
For the ‘72-’73 season, Tiny averaged the most amazing double-double in NBA history – 34 points and 11 assists, leading the league in both categories. It is a feat that has never been duplicated since. In ‘81, he directed the World Champion Boston Celtics, getting the ultimate credential of that NBA chip.
His contributions to the game were immense. At a time when the small man was being phased out of the pro game, Tiny proved that a tape measure can never measure someone’s worth, fortitude, power and fate. His game ensured that there would always be a place for a talented, creative, speedy, intelligent little man with a big heart.
He is the blueprint for the NYC point guard and along with Magic, the greatest to ever man the 1.
Allen Iverson, Isiah, Mahmoud, Muggsy, Chris Paul and the rest of the little/big men should send Tiny a percentage of every dollar they’ve ever earned on the court. He paved the way.
THE PLAYGROUND IS NOT THE PROBLEM. IT IS THE SOLUTION!
December 11th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
illest says:
Class personfied…couldnt of said it better, Ali.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Sean Couch says:
Had the honor of working with Tiny during our Chain Link
Fundamentals Conditioning Clinic. He’s one of the best
teachers of simple give and go and screen and cut ball
I’ve been around. All of the kids loved him. When I was
growing up, he was the player I imitated and wanted to be
like. Tiny’s assist and scoring titles is an NBA grail and
the only three players I could see approaching that is Chris
Paul, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
ali says:
ok illest. so let’s bring the discussion to the modern day. who are the point guard’s that have played from the ’80s to now that are even anywhere near tiny?
isiah’s close, as is stockton (who’s not as close as isiah) and chris paul is making strides in that direction. jkidd, the glove and nash are all-time greats, but not quite in that neighborhood.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
ali says:
my sentiments exactly couch. can’t see any other players on the horizon that could match that holy grail other than the one’s you mentioned. this is projecting way into the future, but if steph curry shows an ability to ring up some dimes at the next level, hmmmm
December 11th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
illest says:
ali…isiah is the closest. i love derrick roses game too. a lot of it has to do with the flava that you play the position with. tiny was another one of the 70s players who played the game with a jazz funk style. i dont see that today.
and i will never say nash is an all time great. especially since hes not better than kj or tim hardaway. he should have never got mvp 2x. and the only reason he flourished was because of d’antoni. all of nashs number increased when dantoni got there. look at duhon so far. hes a waaaaaay better player than he was at duke or chicago. you have to credit a lot of that to dantoni. nashs numbers are down this year. the critics will say age.
you know how i feel about curry. and his mom is hot. and i love how she told him that he was overshooting. after that he hit 13 out of the teams last 14 points in msg.
and melos 33 in the 3rd quarter?!! billups is the best thing for melo.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
ali says:
wow illest. so much to say in so little time. you don’t think nash is an all-time great? he’s one of the greatest passers the game has ever seen.
but you’re right about his numbers and the correlation to d’antoni’s system. even so, to avg 11 assists or more four years in a row is pretty crazy. i do like jason kidd better. and mvp 2 years in a row was a ridiculous travesty.
no doubt, kj was better. kj avg’d 18 pts and 9 dimes for his career, while nash sits at 14 pts and 8 assists. talk about a crazy four year stretch, peep kj’s #’s from ‘88-’92 – 21 pts and 11 assists. and nash has not had a better statisticall season during his 13-year career than each of chris paul’s last two.
and who’s laughing now about the billups for iverson swap. as much as i like the dude and what he accomplished with that team in detroit, you have to question joe dumars on this. he could have had melo ( or bosh or dwade) in detroit, and opted for darko. and now, we see how valuable mr big shot has been over the years. can’t judge a trade on only 20 games, but the pistons have only been about.500 since getting the answer.
and melo’s 33 point 4th quarter? tied my man, the great george “the iceman” gervin for points in a quarter. melo is a better, stonger, more athletic version of big dog robinson.
and curry? i don’t even have the time to touch that right now. sheeeeeeeoooooooooooottt! bob huggins just compared the boy to the pistol, pete maravich!!!
December 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
illest says:
i saw that he compared him to pistol. wow very high praise. big dog robinson….who was a killer at purdue. unbelievable. should of been a better pro, even though he was a career 21 a game scorer, and im glad melo is realizing how good he can be. dumars definitely dumbed out with the darko scenario.
nash is definitely one of the best passers but that doesnt make him an all time great. paul may average 20 and 10 the next 8 years. im definitely aware of kjs numbers over that period. he had two more almost 20 and 10 seasons after that. and tim hardaway has similar number over his first tmc years.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Casey Lee says:
Tiny, no doubt, is in the Top 10 PGs of All-Time.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Illest I want to thank you.. I thought I was the only person that thought Steph Curry’s mom was fine… Good job on that one Dell! I was at that game on Tuesday and I really think Davidson is going to need someone to step up and be the primary ball handler so they can play Curry off the ball more. Isiah is the closest and I get heated when he is not mention as one of the greatest to EVER play the point.. I wore that number 11 jersey almost everyday until the numbers were wearing off as a kid. I really think people forget how great he really was as a little man. However, Nate the skate was the mold from which all other little men were created.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
illest says:
BLk Caesar….no question about the wonderful looks of Sonya Curry.
Davidson will need a primary ballhandler but Curry needs to get used to this to get ready for the pros. They were double teaming him on in bound plays. He somehow still gets the job done.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Curry is good but let’s hold off on the Pistol Pete comparisons.. If it came from Walt Frazier who was a great defender(whom Pistol gave the business to a few times) then maybe I’d be ok with that(My uncle till this day talks about how bad Pistol was).. But as of now let’s just say he is fun to watch and a great college player… Also, I was at the Knicks/Pistons game this past Sunday and Detroit really looks out of sync on the court. I was telling a buddy of mine that you can see how much Billups facilitated for the other guys on the floor even moreso now. Iverson nor Stuckey are doing that b/c they truly are scorers first, but Billups actually set up guys like Rip, Tayshaun, and Sheed first and then looked for his offense when needed and to keep the defense honest.. Also, I noticed they don’t run enough sets for Sheed in the post especially against teh Knicks who don’t have the size on the frontline to stop him or Maxiell… The Pistons have alot of work to do if they want to challenge for the East title.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Mark House says:
Ali, a nice tribute to Nate. The flourish of “gully” vocabulary makes it hot.
Keep at it. I’ll be watching
December 11th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Jeremy Ripley says:
Man, I love reading these joints!
Peep Tiny’s assortment of suede butters below the ankles–Blazers and Converse Dr. J’s…wow!
The Curry comparison seems a bit overblown.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
ali says:
thanks jeremy. we’re not comparing him to curry at all. i just offered a what if: as in what if curry shows an ability to thrive in the nba assist game. couple that scenario with his scoring ability and you’d have that scoring/passing double threat. but stylistically, there is no comparison. and tiny’s footwear is definitely butter.
glad you’re feeling “the playground gave us…” coming bigger, better and stronger, like lebron in 2009!
December 11th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Billy Rieser says:
Tiny was the best. I saw him in those projects when I ran with the Gauchos. He was a great guy.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
ali says:
for those who are unaware, the above comment is from my man billy reiser, a.k.a. white jesus. he is a certified legend, simply the highest jumping, hardest dunking caucasion in the history of the new york city high school and playground scene.
if you haven’t copped bounce magazine’s classic – “The White Issue” with Jack Ryan on the cover – you need to do that asap to peep the story of “White Jesus.”
he has a book coming out soon called “They Called Me White Jesus: I was a legend … now I’m something more.”
we’ll hit you with more info about it soon.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
ali says:
you can also check out vincent mallozi’s great book, “Asphalt Gods” for more info about Billy Rieser.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Elliot Rosado says:
Tiny was a great player and he is also a great teacher. It’s hard to believe he is not an assistant in the N.B.A. Like Sean said he is a great teacher. I learned a lot from him when i played with Johnny Mathis. Those two guys are are one of the reasons i’m coaching today.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Russ M. says:
Years back a read a quote from a sports photographer in which he identified Tiny as one of the two athletes which he felt it was virtually impossible to take a bad picture of. I think these pics prove his point. The other was Joe Namath.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
funkalot says:
Ali,
Where to begin? We were blessed in the Bean -Boston to watch Tiny’s greatness up close, even if he was in his twilight. He was straight gangster and played with a “napoleon’s complex”. Tiny was a very vengeful dude. Zeke’s first ever trip to the Boston Garden, Tiny tore him a new one. He puposely went at Zeke, to orient him to the league and to reaffirm his positioning as one of the best PGs in the “L”, at the time and that he was not conceding ground to any media hyped new jack. The look on Isaiah’s face, post game was telling. He was truly humbled.
But more impressive than Tiny the ball player is Nate the man. Nate has a passion for the sport and uses it to help transform lives. He was responsible for bringing The Animal, Easy Ed, Pearl, Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson,
Ice,Beatle,Waltah Berry and later he brought his closest facsimile and protege Kenny Anderson to display their wares at the Boston Shootout tourneys. What resonated with me was his cool demeanor, he never appeared too emotional, similar to how he managed stressful game situations and he could be found throughout Boston’s Hoods offering advice to shorty’s on the playgrounds.
The Playgrounds gave us its best, when it created Nate the skate aka Tiny Archibald. It is a travesty, similar, to Abdul Jabbar, that he is not a coach in the “L” on some level. He would be the perfect PG mentor.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
ali says:
funk,
i was wondering where you’d been for this discourse. i actually spoke to pearl washington the night before last. he’s now coaching the ladies at thomas jefferson high school in bk, sid green’s alma mater and one of the stops in lloyd daniel’s odyssey. they just smacked some team around and won by 50!
anyway, pearl told me a few months ago that he was in awe playing for tiny with the gauchos and taking that trip to boston. you could still hear the reverence in his voice. “Tiny was the best, THE best, THE best…” he kept saying over and over.
i asked him if he ever challenged him to a one-on-one and he just chuckled. “Nah, man. That was Tiny Archibald. The best! I just a kid, like 15. I didn’t have the heart to challenge him back then. he was THE best….”
i’ll never forget that conversation and the awe that’s still in pearl’s voice when he talks about tiny.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
littel vaughn says:
ive seen tiny when i was 11 years old playing against the sixers my hometown team in the 1981 playoffs.he was a little magician with big heart even at that old age you wright he set the tone for the little man who can score but still be a point guard.
April 17th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
pierreTHE MOON lucas says:
i also seen tiny when i was 12 years old at rucker park against guys like dr.j. joe hammen, charlie scott, dean,goat,shake&bake tiny was the man