Nathaniel Clifton
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton (October 13, 1922 – August 31, 1990) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 multi-sport athlete best known as one of the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

s to play in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

.

Early life

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

, (according to the Social Security Administration
Social Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits...

 death records, he was born Clifton Nathaniel. Clifton claimed to have been given the "Sweetwater" nickname as a boy because of his love of soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...

s. His family moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, where he became an outstanding basketball and baseball player at DuSable High School, graduating in 1942. He attended Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana , located in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college with the distinction of being the only historically black Roman Catholic institution of higher education...

 and then served with the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 for three years, fighting for his country in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Early pro sports career

After the war, Sweetwater Clifton joined the New York Rens
New York Renaissance
The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big Five and as the Rens, was an all-black professional basketball team established February 13, 1923, by Robert "Bob" Douglas in agreement with the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom...

, an all-black professional basketball team that toured throughout the United States. Noted for his large hands, which required a size 14 glove, he was invited to join the Harlem Globetrotters
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...

, for whom he played from the summer of 1948 to the spring of 1950. Still a talented baseball first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

, during the basketball off-season in 1949 Clifton played for the Chicago American Giants
Chicago American Giants
Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team, owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Foster. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball...

 in Negro League baseball
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...

. By 1950, his performance with the Globetrotters, in particular his exceptional ball-handling ability, led to his signing a contract with an NBA team.

NBA career

Already 27 when he made his debut as a member of the New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, in his first season Clifton helped lead the team to its first-ever appearance in the NBA finals. During his eight seasons in the NBA, Clifton averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds per game. He was named to the 1957 NBA All-Star team
1957 NBA All-Star Game
The 1957 NBA All Star Game was the seventh NBA All-Star Game. With the score 43-39 in favor of the West and with time running out in the first half, the East's Bill Sharman attempted to throw a long pass to Bob Cousy...

, scoring 8 points in 23 minutes in the game. At age 34, he became the oldest player in NBA history to be named an All-Star.

In 1957, Clifton was part of a multi-player trade between the Knicks and the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

, but after one season in Detroit he retired from basketball. In the summer of 1958, he joined the Detroit Clowns
Detroit Stars
The Detroit Stars were a United States baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park.- Founding :Founded in 1919 by Tenny Blount with the help of Rube Foster, owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, the Detroit Stars immediately established themselves as one of the...

 baseball team in the Negro Leagues, along with his former Harlem Globetrotters teammate Reece "Goose" Tatum.

In 1961, he was coaxed out of retirement by the Chicago Majors
Chicago Majors
The Chicago Majors was an American basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois that was a member of the American Basketball League. They played in the old Chicago Stadium.-Year-by-year:...

 of the fledgling American Basketball League
American Basketball League (1961-1963)
The American Basketball League played one full season, 1961-1962, and part of 1962-1963. The league actually folded on December 31, 1962. The ABL was the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal.-Formation:...

 (ABL). After the league folded at the end of 1962, the 40-year-old Clifton retired permanently.

Honors and charitable work

Clifton's contributions to his community during his sporting career and after his playing days have been recognized by the Associated Black Charities of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. They have honored him by naming one of the Black History Maker Awards the Nathaniel 'Sweetwater' Clifton Award. In 2005, the New York Knicks basketball team re-named their monthly "City Spirit Award" in his honor. The Sweetwater Clifton City Spirit Award is given to a member of the community who goes above and beyond his or her normal duties to make the lives of others in the tri-state area
Tri-state area
There are a number of areas in the 48 contiguous United States known as tri-state areas where three states either meet at one point or are in proximity to each other. The best known of the latter type is the New York metropolitan area...

 better.

On his passing in 1990, Sweetwater Clifton was interred in the Restvale Cemetery
Burr Oak Cemetery and Restvale Cemetery
Burr Oak Cemetery is a cemetery located in unincorporated Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Alsip, a suburb slightly southwest of Chicago. As one of the few cemeteries focused on the needs of the African-American community, it is the final resting place of many black celebrities, including...

 in the Chicago suburb of Alsip
Alsip, Illinois
Alsip is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,725 at the 2000 census. It is a suburb of Chicago.Alsip was settled in the 1830s by German and Dutch farmers. The village is named after Frank Alsip, the owner of a brickyard that opened there in 1885...

.

See also

  • Chuck Cooper (basketball) and Earl Lloyd
    Earl Lloyd
    Earl Francis Lloyd is a retired American basketball player. He was the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950-51 NBA season...

    , also among the first African American players in the NBA in 1950
  • List of African American firsts
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