Nathan Joseph Darling (born August 30, 1998) is a Canadian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Ontario Clippers The Ontario Clippers, formerly known as the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Ontario, California, and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Clippers. The team began play in ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of Conference USA (C-USA) and participates in Division I of the ...

and the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the athletic teams of the University of Delaware of Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. He is the first and only player in NBA history to have played for

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

in college.

High school career

Darling attended

DeMatha Catholic High School DeMatha Catholic High School is a four-year Catholic high school for boys located in Hyattsville, Maryland, United States. Named after John of Matha, DeMatha is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a member of the Washington C ...

and was teammates with top recruit

Markelle Fultz Markelle N'Gai Fultz (born May 29, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies before being selected by the Phila ...

and football star

Chase Young Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes. During ...

College career

Darling began his collegiate career at UAB and averaged 2.5 points per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 10.1 points per game while shooting 40.9 percent on three-pointers. Following the season, he decided to transfer to the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 m ...

. On December 14, 2019, Darling scored a game-high 29 points against 20th-ranked Villanova in a 78–70 loss, after which his head coach Martin Ingelsby said he was playing like one of the best guards in college basketball. As a junior, Darling averaged 21 points per game. He earned first-team All-

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I whose full members are located in East Coast ...

(CAA) honors. After the season, he declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

while retaining college eligibility. However, on August 3 he announced he was remaining in the draft and turning professional.

Professional career

Charlotte Hornets (2020–2021)

After going undrafted in the

, Darling signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. Under the terms of the deal, he will split time between the Hornets and their

affiliate, the

Greensboro Swarm The Greensboro Swarm are an American basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets. The Swarm play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex#Fieldhouse, Greensbor ...

. This unites him with Canadian assistant coach

Jay Triano A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

. He made his NBA debut on March 13, 2021 against the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Atlantic Division (NBA) ...

, hitting a three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and became the first Nova Scotia born player in NBA history.

Ontario Clippers (2021–present)

On October 16, 2021, Darling was signed by the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

, but was waived shortly thereafter. On October 23, he was selected by the

5th overall in the

2021 NBA G League draft The 2021 NBA G League draft can refer to either: * 2021 NBA G League draft (January) – held on January 11, 2021, prior to the delayed start of the 2020–21 NBA G League season * 2021 NBA G League draft (October) – held on October 23, 2021, pri ...

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 3.7 , , .286 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , .1 , , .1 , , .0 , , .1 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 7 , , 0 , , 3.7 , , .286 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , .1 , , .1 , , .0 , , .1 , , 1.3

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", UAB , 30 , , 1 , , 9.4 , , .491 , , .462 , , .500 , , .5 , , .5 , , .1 , , .0 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", UAB , 33 , , 31 , , 28.0 , , .477 , , .409 , , .830 , , 3.0 , , 2.8 , , .4 , , .3 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 38.3 , , .446 , , .399 , , .854 , , 3.9 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .2 , , 21.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 95 , , 64 , , 25.6 , , .459 , , .408 , , .841 , , 2.5 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , .2 , , 11.4

References

External links

Delaware Blue Hens bioUAB Blazers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darling, Nate 1998 births Living people Agua Caliente Clippers players Basketball people from Nova Scotia Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Charlotte Hornets players Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball players DeMatha Catholic High School alumni Greensboro Swarm players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia UAB Blazers men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players