Nicholas J. "Nat" Hickey (born Nicola Zarnecich; January 30, 1902 – September 16, 1979) was a Croatian-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 (appr ...

coach/player and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He turned to coaching basketball after his retirement from playing full-time in 1942 but occasionally activated himself as a player for the teams he was coaching. In 1948, at the age of 45, Hickey played two games with the

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2022, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

(BAA) while serving as the team's head coach, making him the oldest player in NBA history.

Early life

Hickey was born Nicola Zarnecich on the Croatian island of

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after K ...

(then

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia ( hr, Kraljevina Dalmacija; german: Königreich Dalmatien; it, Regno di Dalmazia) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entir ...

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

). He attended

Hoboken High School Hoboken High School (HHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Hoboken, in Hudson County, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hoboken Public Schoo ...

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

Basketball

As a 5'11"

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forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, Hickey played from the 1920s through 1940s with multiple early professional teams, including the Hoboken St. Joseph's, Eddie Holly's Majors, New York Crescents,

Cleveland Rosenblums The Cleveland Rosenblums (also known as the ''Rosies'') were an American basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio that was one of the original members of the American Basketball League. The Rosenblums played in the league between 1925–1930, win ...

, the

Chicago Bruins The Chicago Bruins were an American basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Chicago Bears football team owner George Halas, the Bruins were a member of the American Basketball League, a league that also featured other National Football ...

Boston Trojans The Boston Trojans were an American basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts that was a member of the American Basketball League. Year-by-year Notable players Notable players with the Original Celtics include: *Lou Bender (1910–2009), p ...

Original Celtics The Original Celtics were a barnstorming professional American basketball team. At various times in their existence, the team played in the American Basketball League, the Eastern Basketball League and the Metropolitan Basketball League. The tea ...

of the American Basketball League and the

Pittsburgh Raiders The Pittsburgh Pirates were an American professional basketball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast ...

Indianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

, and

Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

of the National Basketball League. In the second year after the formation of the

(the forerunner to the NBA), Hickey served 29 games as head coach of the

during the 1947–48 season. Hickey's team posted a 4–25 record during his tenure. He activated himself as a player on January 27, 1948, three days before his 46th birthday, and appeared in two games. He attempted six field goals – making none – and committed five personal fouls. He scored two points off of foul shots. All of the shots occurred in his debut game as a player against the

St. Louis Bombers The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis from 1946 to 1950. Franchise history The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The BAA merged wit ...

. While he also played a day later against the

New York Knickerbockers The New York Knickerbockers were one of the first organized baseball teams which played under a set of rules similar to the game today. Founded as the "Knickerbocker Base Ball Club" by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, the team remained active unt ...

, he did not record anything in that game. As a result of these games, Hickey still holds the record for the oldest player in NBA history at 45 years and 363 days. Hickey became the coach of the Johnstown Clippers of the All-American Basketball League during the 1950–51 season. On January 11, 1951, Hickey was driving the team back to

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropol ...

, after a game in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, when he lost control of his car on the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

and crashed. Clippers player George Karmarkovich, a 24-year-old who was considered the team's biggest star, was ejected from the car and killed. The Clippers were disbanded the following day and Hickey did not return to coaching. Hickey was found to not be responsible for Karmarkovich's death.

Baseball

Aside from basketball, Hickey enjoyed a lengthy career in baseball, playing 15 minor league seasons and managing two. Hickey managed and played several seasons of minor league baseball as an outfielder. Notably, he was baseball Hall of Famer

Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consis ...

's first minor league manager with the Williamson Colts in 1938. Hickey was inducted into the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame in 1965 for his basketball and baseball achievements.

Personal life

Hickey was a cousin of parachute jumper

Nick Piantanida Nicholas John Piantanida (August 15, 1932 – August 29, 1966) was an American amateur parachute jumper who reached with his ''Strato Jump II'' balloon on February 2, 1966, flying a crewed balloon higher than anyone before, a record that stood ...

. Hickey died on September 16, 1979, in

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

Minor league baseball statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Nat 1902 births 1979 deaths Allentown Brooks players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of Croatian descent Basketball players from New Jersey Chicago Bruins players Cleveland Rosenblums players Croatian men's basketball players Dayton Ducks players Decatur Commodores players Fitchburg (minor league baseball) players Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) Hoboken High School alumni Indianapolis Kautskys coaches Indianapolis Kautskys players Johnstown Johnnies players Minor league baseball managers National Basketball Association players from Croatia Original Celtics players People from Korčula Pittsburgh Raiders players Player-coaches Providence Steamrollers coaches Providence Steamrollers players Reading Brooks players Scranton Miners players Sportspeople from Hoboken, New Jersey Tri-Cities Blackhawks players Waynesboro Villagers players Williamson Colts players Williamsport Grays players Worcester Boosters players Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States