Archie L. Clark (born July 15, 1941) is an American former 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 (appr ...
player. At 6'2", he played
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
for five
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA) teams.
Born in
Conway, Arkansas
Conway is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Faulkner County, located in the state's most populous Metropolitan Statistical Area, Central Arkansas. Although considered a suburb of Little Rock, Conway is unusual in that ...
, Clark grew up in the suburbs of
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and joined the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
after
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
. While playing for an
intramural
Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
basketball team at
Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...
, he was discovered by a scout from
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
and soon accepted a scholarship to play for
John Kundla
John Albert Kundla (July 3, 1916 – July 23, 2017) was an American college and professional basketball coach. He was the first head coach for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its predecessors, the Basketbal ...
. After a strong collegiate career, which included an All
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
selection as a senior, he was drafted by 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 league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
in the fourth round of the
1966 NBA draft.
In his 10-season (1966–1976) NBA career, Clark played for the Lakers, the
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
, the
Baltimore/Capital Bullets, the
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...
, and the
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...
. In 1968, Clark was part of the trade (together with
Darrall Imhoff
Darrall Tucker Imhoff (October 11, 1938 – June 30, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. He spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for six teams from 1960 to 1972. He made an NBA All-Star team, an ...
and
Jerry Chambers
Jerome Purcell "Jerry" Chambers (born July 18, 1943) is a retired American professional basketball player. At 6'5" and 185 pounds, he played as a forward.
Early life
Chambers attended Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C., transferring to ...
) that brought
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...
to the Lakers. He averaged 16.3 career points and 4.8 career
assists and appeared in two
National Basketball Association All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, a ...
s; he also received All-NBA Second Team honors in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
.
He was acquired along with a
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
second-round selection (19th overall–
Louie Nelson
Louis Nelson (born May 28, 1951) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nelson was drafted with the first pick in the second round of the 1973 NBA draft by the Baltimore Bullets. Before the 1974–75 NBA season, Nel ...
) and cash by the Baltimore Bullets from the 76ers for
Kevin Loughery
Kevin Michael Loughery (born March 28, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and coach.
Career biography
Loughery spent 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (1962–1973), almost nine of them with the Baltimore ...
and
Fred Carter
Fredrick James Carter (born February 14, 1945), nicknamed "Mad Dog" or "Doggy", is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons (1969– 77) for the Balti ...
on October 17, 1971. He refused to play for the Bullets under the same contract he had in Philadelphia. He rejoined the team nine days after the trade on October 26 while his contract was being renegotiated. He was dealt from the Washington Bullets to the SuperSonics for
Dick Gibbs and a
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
third-round pick (48th overall–
Tom Kropp) on August 19, 1974.
1975 NBA Draft Pick Transactions, May 29 – Pro Sports Transactions.
Retrieved November 30, 2020
Clark was one of the first effective practitioners of the crossover dribble, which inspired his nickname "Shake and Bake."
In 1987, Clark unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Ecorse, Michigan
Ecorse ( ') is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,512 at the 2010 census.
Ecorse is part of the Downriver community within Metro Detroit. The city shares a northwestern border with the city of Detroit ...
. In 1992, he co-founded the National Basketball Retired Players Association
The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) is a non-profit association composed of former professional basketball players of the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters, and WNBA. It was founded in 1992 by NBA Hall of Famers Dave DeBus ...
with Dave DeBusschere
David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player and coach and Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He played for the Chicago White Sox of MLB in 1962 and 1963 a ...
, Dave Bing
David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
After starring a ...
, Dave Cowens
David William Cowens ( ; born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and NBA head coach. At , he played the center position and occasionally played power forward. Cowens spent most of his playing career with the Bo ...
and Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...
.
References
External links
Career statistics
NBRPA biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Archie
1941 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players
Basketball players from Arkansas
Capital Bullets players
Detroit Pistons players
Guards (basketball)
Los Angeles Lakers draft picks
Los Angeles Lakers players
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players
National Basketball Association All-Stars
People from Conway, Arkansas
Philadelphia 76ers players
Seattle SuperSonics players
American men's basketball players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople