Nate Hawthorne (January 19, 1951 – November 23, 2005) was an American professional

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. He spent three seasons 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 ...

(NBA), one with the

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

( 1973–74) and two with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

(

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

– 76). The

Mount Vernon, Illinois Mount Vernon is a city in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area, which includes all of ...

, native attended

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

prior to his NBA stint. He died at the age of 54 outside his home in

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

, suffering a massive heart attack.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 33 , , 6.9 , , .409 , , .625 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .3 , , .2 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 50 , , 12.4 , , .411 , , .649 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .6 , , .4 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 79 , , 14.5 , , .430 , , .676 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , .2 , , 6.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 162 , , 12.3 , , .421 , , .660 , , 2.1 , , .7 , , .4 , , .3 , , 5.4

Playoffs

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

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 3 , , 4.7 , , .143 , , .800 , , .7 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 15 , , 5.4 , , .346 , , .727 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 18 , , 5.3 , , .303 , , .750 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.8

References

1951 births 2005 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players New Orleans Jazz expansion draft picks People from Mount Vernon, Illinois Phoenix Suns players Shooting guards Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub