He was known during his playing days as “Nate the Great” but for at least the first night of the 1974-75 NBA season, Nate Thurmond was “Nate the Exceptional.”
An off-season acquisition by the Chicago Bulls, Thurmond shined before the raucus Chicago Stadium Opening Night crowd on October 18, 1974, when he recorded the first official quadruple-double in NBA history. Thurmond’s stat line that night included 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists, and 12 steals in 45 minutes of action during the Bulls’ 120-115 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
- Full Disclosure: Blocks and steals didn’t become official NBA statistics until the 1973-74 season so the chances of either Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell having achieved this rarified air previously were fairly high.
To date, however, it’s only been accomplished three more times in the past 50 seasons and Thurmond’s is still the only one to occur on Opening Night.
Those other three members of this most exclusive of clubs:
- Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs, February 18, 1986 – Over 36 minutes, Robertson scored 20 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made 10 assists, and 10 steals, during the host Spurs’ 120-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
- David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs, February 17, 1994 – Over 43 minutes, Robinson scored 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, made 10 assists, and blocked 10 shots, during the host Spurs’ 115-96 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
- Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets, March 29, 1990 – Over 40 minutes, Olajuwon scored 18 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, made 10 assists, and blocked 11 shots during the host Rockets’ 120-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. An interesting side note, one of Olajuwon’s Milwaukee opponents that night was none other than Alvin Robertson.
Check out Thurmond’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame biography at this link.
Also of note, how in the heck did any opponent get a shot off against the San Francisco Warriors the season and a half Thurmond and Chamberlain were teammates (1963-64 and part of 1964-65)!?!
Finally, we mentioned that Thurmond had been newly acquired by the Bulls prior to the 1974-75 season. He was traded by the Warriors to Chicago for Clifford Ray and a 1975 first-round draft pick that wound up being Joe Bryant, who might be better known as Kobe Bryant‘s father.
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