Swen Nater

Early life

Nater was born in the Netherlands in Den Helder. He took his stepfather's name and was known as Swen Langeberg.

Nater did not get along with his stepfather, who did not want him to play basketball. 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. 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.

College career

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

Nater redshirted his first year with the UCLA Bruins. Hoping to impress pro scouts, Nater played in the 1973 Pizza Hut All-Star Basketball Classic, and logged 34 points with 23 rebounds to earn most valuable player honors.

Professional career

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. Nater was also drafted in the first round of the 1973 NBA draft with the 16th overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks; he was the first NBA first-round pick to have played in the NCAA without ever starting a college game. On November 21, 1973, the Squires traded Nater to the San Antonio Spurs for a draft pick and $300,000.

With the Spurs, Nater was the ABA Rookie of the Year after averaging 14.1 points and 12.6 rebounds for the season. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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

Regular season

|- | 17 || - || 22.0 || style="background:#cfecec;|.556* || .000 || .630 || 9.1 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 0.9 || 12.6 |- | 62 || - || 32.3 || style="background:#cfecec;|.551* || .000 || .740 || 13.6 || 1.8 || 0.4 || 0.8 || 14.5 |- | 78 || - || 34.8 || .542 || .000 || .752 || style="background:#cfecec;" | 16.4* || 1.2 || 0.6 || 1.1 || 15.1 |- | 43 || - || 23.6 || .485 || .000 || .718 || 10.3 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 0.6 || 8.7 |- | 33 || - || 23.5 || .498 || .000 || .675 || 9.8 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 0.8 || 11.3 |- | 72 || - || 27.2 || .528 || - || .754 || 12.0 || 1.5 || 0.8 || 0.7 || 13.0 |- | 78 || - || 35.6 || .504 || - || .765 || 13.2 || 2.8 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 15.5 |- | 79 || - || 25.4 || .569 || - || .800 || 8.9 || 1.8 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 10.7 |- | 81 || - || 35.3 || .554 || .000 || .718 || style="background:#cfecec;" | 15.0* || 2.9 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 13.4 |- | 82 || - || 34.3 || .553 || .000 || .795 || 12.4 || 2.4 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 15.6 |- | 21 || 7 || 27.4 || .577 || 1.000 || .747 || 9.1 || 1.4 || 0.3 || 0.4 || 12.5 |- | 7 || 0 || 7.3 || .300 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.9 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 2.3 |- | 69 || 0 || 12.0 || .490 || .000 || .692 || 3.8 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4.5 |- class="sortbottom" | 722 || 7 || 28.7 || .535 || .100 || .748 || 11.6||1.7|| 0.5|| 0.6 || 12.4 |}

Playoffs

|- | 7 || - || 30.1 || .553 || .000 || .714 || 11.7 || 2.1 || 0.4 || 0.7 || 14.9 |- | 6 || - || 39.0 || .476 || .000 || .429 || 16.5 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 1.0 || 14.8 |- | 17 || - || 8.6 || .500 || .000 || .769 || 2.4 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 3.4 |- class="sortbottom" | 30 || - || 19.7 || .512 || .000|| .639 || 7.4||0.7||0.2||0.4 || 8.4 |}

After the NBA

He built the basketball program at Christian Heritage College in San Diego, California, and coached the team from 1985 to 1995. 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.

Nater later lived in Enumclaw, Washington, where he went to work for Costco, for whom he was a sporting goods assistant buyer. 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

References

References

1. "ABOUT COACH SWEN NATER".
2. Walton, Bill. (February 24, 2004). "What a long, strange trip it's been, Swen". ESPN.com.
3. Hamelin, Joe. (December 11, 1982). "A God-Fearing Man". The Sacramento Bee.
4. Hiserman, Mike. (June 9, 1984). "Once a Barefoot Octcast, Swen NAter Has Proven He Can Survive". Los Angeles Times.
5. (2009). "The Great Book of Los Angeles Sports Lists". Running Press.
6. Siebel, Max. (April 15, 1973). "Walton Understudy Nater Happy With Basketball Career at UCLA". The Wichita Eagle and Beacon.
7. Siebel, Max. (April 15, 1973). "Nater Dominates Pizza Hut Game". The Wichita Eagle and Beacon.
8. "BasketballReference.com Swen Nater page".
9. "Remember the ABA: Oakland Oaks/Washington Caps/Virginia Squires Year-to-Year Franchise Notes".
10. Hazeltine, Rick. (December 17, 1988). "LOOKING UP TO HIM : Swen Nater Is a Lifetime Rebounder With Valuable Lessons to Pass On". Los Angeles Times.
11. Carr, Al. (June 26, 1974). "Success Doesn't Surprise Nater". Los Angeles Times.
12. (16 January 2018). "StaTuesday: Milwaukee Bucks who saw 20-20".
13. "Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, December 19, 1976".
14. Norcross, Don. (April 7, 1983). "Nater knows the pain that Walton suffered". Times-Advocate.
15. Bonk, Thomas. (October 13, 1983). "Nater Is Happy To Have a Job He Never Thought He Wanted". Los Angeles Times.
16. Broussard, Chris. (January 11, 2004). "THEN AND NOW -- Swen Nater; Big Man Loved the Game, Then Learned to Play It". [[New York Times]].
17. Ringer, Sandy. (November 10, 1997). "Enumclaw's Nater Grew Up With Game". The Seattle Times.
18. [http://www.espn.co.uk/nba/columns/story?columnist=walton_bill&id=1743087 What a long, strange trip it's been, Swen], Espn.co.uk, Retrieved 2018-12-11.