Nathan "Nate the Snake" Bowman (March 19, 1943 – December 11, 1984) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. A 6'10" center from

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, Bowman played five seasons (1966–1971) in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and one season (1971–1972) in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

as a member of the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

, and

Pittsburgh Condors The Pittsburgh Condors were a professional basketball team in the original American Basketball Association (ABA). Originally called the Pittsburgh Pipers, they were a charter franchise of the ABA and captured the first league title. The team pla ...

. He won an

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

as a reserve for the Knicks in 1970. In his NBA/ABA career, Bowman tallied 745 total points and 878 total rebounds. He was a good rebounder, but a poor shooter who had a problem with committing personal fouls, thus earning the nickname "Nate the Snake." In his NBA/ABA career, he committed more personal fouls than he scored field goals. Bowman was one of several players involved in a November 20, 1968, brawl between the Knicks and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

at Atlanta's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The fight eventually spilled into the stands, where fans grabbed Bowman so that Atlanta's Bill Bridges could land a punch. None of the participants were fined more than $25. Bowman was a swinger and attended swing parties at actor Ted Ross's house. Bowman died of cardiac arrest on December 11, 1984, in New York City. He had finished an audition for a

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...

television commercial when he began to complain about chest pains. Bowman arrived at Roosevelt-St. Luke's Hospital with no vital signs and died in the emergency room.

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! GS ! MPG ! FG% ! 3P% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 9 , , , , 7.2 , , .381 , , , , .750 , , 3.1 , , .2 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 42 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .388 , , , , .667 , , 2.7 , , .5 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 67 , , 1 , , 9.1 , , .363 , , , , .475 , , 3.3 , , .8 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , align="left" ,

, 81 , , 1 , , 9.2 , , .417 , , , , .519 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Buffalo , 44 , , , , 11.0 , , .392 , , , , .526 , , 3.9 , , .9 , , 3.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

(ABA) , 18 , , , , 12.1 , , .358 , , .000 , , .556 , , 4.8 , , .7 , , 2.4 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (NBA) , 243 , , 2 , , 8.9 , , .390 , , , , .527 , , 3.3 , , .7 , , 2.9 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (overall) , 261 , , 2 , , 9.1 , , .388 , , .000 , , .529 , , 3.4 , , .7 , , 2.9

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! GS ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG , - , align="left" ,

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .000 , , – , , 3.0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , align="left" ,

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, align="left" ,

, 10 , , 0 , , 6.2 , , .267 , , 1.000 , , 3.2 , , .3 , , 1.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

† , align="left" ,

(ABA) , 18 , , 1 , , 7.1 , , .383 , , .700 , , 2.4 , , .3 , , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 29 , , 1 , , 6.8 , , .333 , , .769 , , 2.7 , , .3 , , 1.9

Notes

External links

* 1943 births 1984 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Fort Worth, Texas Buffalo Braves players Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls expansion draft picks Chicago Bulls players Cincinnati Royals draft picks New York Knicks players Pittsburgh Condors players Seattle SuperSonics expansion draft picks Wichita State Shockers men's basketball players {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub