Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton was a pioneer in the NBA and a basketball legend, know his cause of death
He was the second African-American player to sign a deal with the NBA.
The uplifting and moving story of Clifton has made a big difference in the world of basketball, and the Associated Black Charities of New York City has given him an award for his work.
Nat Clifton cause of death, bio, age, wife, family, facts, stats
Nat (Sweetwater) Clifton, one of the first black players in the National Basketball Association and a popular star with the New York Knick teams of the 1950’s, died in Chicago, apparently of a heart attack aged 65. In his final years, Clifton supported himself and his wife, Joan, who died in January 1990, as a cabdriver in Chicago and they had four children. On August 31, 1990, Clifton was found in the Chicago cab he drove having died from a heart attack.
Nat Clifton was born in England, Arkansas. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Chicago. He went to DuSable High School and was a great baseball and basketball player there. After Clifton graduated from high school in 1942, he went to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. He then joined the US Army and fought in Europe during World War II.
After the war, Clifton joined the New York Rens, a professional basketball team that was all black and played all over the United States. Later, the Harlem Globetrotters asked him to play for them, and he did so for almost two years. Clifton was also a good baseball player. When the basketball season was over in 1949, he played for the Chicago American Giants.
Nat Clifton breaking barriers in the NBA
When Clifton signed with the New York Knicks in 1950, he was the second African-American player to do so. He later made the NBA All-Star team in 1957 and was part of a 1957 trade between the Knicks and the Fort Wayne Pistons that involved several players.
Harold Hunter and Nat Clifton… the first African-American players to sign NBA contracts.#NBAVoices #BHM pic.twitter.com/V4d8PlCfeT
— NBA (@NBA) February 27, 2020
Clifton quit basketball after just one season with Detroit. He left a memory behind. The Associated Black Charities of New York City wanted to honour Clifton’s services to basketball and society, so they named their Black History Maker Award the Nathaniel ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton Award.
Nat Clifton honored in new biographical film Sweetwater
Clifton worked as a taxi driver for the Checker Cab Company during his last years. He died at the age of 63 in 1990, having made a big difference in the world of basketball and teaching people to be humble and always try their best.
A new American sports biographical independent film called “Sweetwater” was made to honour Clifton’s memory. Martin Guigui wrote and directed the movie, which tells the real story of Clifton’s life, work, and huge gifts to society. Everett Osborne, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfuss, and Kevin Pollak are all part of the movie’s characters. The movie “Sweetwater” is set to come out in theatres on April 14.
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