Boston Celtics legend Nate “Tiny” Archibald revealed to ESPN's Jackie MacMullan that he's been living with an incurable heart disease for more than a year. He was aware of the health statistics that many retired players endured, so he was curious how healthy he was and went to a doctor.
“So I decided to go in,” Archibald said. “I'm thinking, ‘OK, ordinary, routine blood work.' I came out in shock mode.”
According to Archibald, his tests revealed there was an issue with his heart called amyloidosis, which is a rare and incurable condition.
“What's happening is my heart is beating too fast and too hard,” Archibald said. “There's blockage in there and we gotta find a way to dissolve some of it. My heart is taking a pounding, and that blockage is going to cause it to malfunction.”
Archibald revealed that he became aware of his heart condition back in December of 2016 during a free screening. The 69-year-old says that the news still haunts him but is determined to live a long, productive life.
“What I have is really rare. There’s no pills, nothing they have found that works. I’m being tested all the time, just hoping, you know? “My [heart] could go any minute,” Archibald said. “But I’m not ready for that. I want to be around for a long time.”
Dr. Michael Emery, a cardiologist at Indiana School of Medicine, says that Archibald's condition reduces the ability of his heart to fill with blood in between heartbeats.
“It makes the heart very stiff,” Emery said to MacMullan. “Instead of a pliable heart muscle, your heart doesn't relax well enough to let blood in, as well as pump blood out.”
The NBA legend, who exercises regularly and actively partakes in a healthy diet, says that he owes a lot to the current crop of NBA players for the advancement when it comes to modern health studies.
“If not for today's players, I don't think a lot of us old guys would be here today. It used to be when someone passed, it was, ‘Oh, he died,' and that's it,” Archibald said. “Now we're able to pinpoint why they are gone and realize, ‘This could have been avoided.' I want to thank them for that. They are saving us.”
The six-time NBA All-Star point guard played in the league for 13 seasons, Archibald was part of the Celtics' 1981 championship team, and was the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring (34.0 points per game) and assists (11.4 assists per game) in the same season in 1972-73 while he was a member of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings.
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