1. Nat Clifton is best known as one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association.
12 Facts About Nat Clifton
1. 2.
Nat Clifton's family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when he was eight.
3.
Nat Clifton reversed his two names when sportswriters complained that his last name, Nathaniel, was too long to fit in their headlines.
4.
Nat Clifton attended Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and then served with the United States Army for three years, fighting in Europe during World War II.
5.
Still a talented baseball first baseman, during the basketball off-season in 1949 Nat Clifton played for the Chicago American Giants in Negro league baseball.
6.
On May 24,1950, Nat Clifton became the second African-American player to sign an NBA contract.
7.
Nat Clifton was named to the 1957 NBA All-Star team, scoring 8 points in 23 minutes in the game.
8.
In 1957, Nat Clifton was part of a multi-player trade between the Knicks and the Fort Wayne Pistons, but after one season in Detroit he retired from basketball.
9.
Nat Clifton died at age 67 on August 31,1990, in Chicago.
10.
Nat Clifton was interred in the Restvale Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Alsip.
11.
Nat Clifton, who played softball for the Brown Bombers and Capitol Records team of the Daddy-O Daylie League, was inducted into Chicago 16-inch softball Hall of Fame.
12.
On February 14,2014, Nat Clifton was announced as a 2014 inductee by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.