GGOATRANK
🇺🇸
Basketball · Forward-centre · United States

Nat Clifton

1942–1958 · First Black player to sign an NBA contract, after Harlem Globetrotters stardom.

Retired
Ranking model

100% titles, statistics, dominance, longevity and global competition depth.

Pure sporting data
79.5
Cultural & brand footprint 58/100 · total legacy 75.6
All-Star selections
1
NBA games played
468
Career points per game
10
Career rebounds per game
8.2
NBA Finals appearances
3

Category profile

Dominance
72
Peak
84
Longevity
82
Honours
80
Statistics
82

Career timeline · Points per game

SeasonPoints per gameShare of career
19508.6
195110.6
195210.1
195310.1
195413.1
195511.2
19565.9

Data sources

  • NBA
  • Basketball Reference
  • Naismith Hall of Fame

Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method

Why Nat Clifton ranks #162 in Basketball

Nat Clifton ranks 162nd among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 962nd of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 79.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 72, Peak 84, Longevity 82, Honours 80, Statistics 82. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 402 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.

The record covers 1942–1958 with 7 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1954, which sets the Peak component at 84. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 84 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes all-star selections 1, nba games played 468, career points per game 10, career rebounds per game 8.2.

Immediately ahead sits Charley Hyatt on 79.7, a gap of 0.2 points. Directly behind is Luol Deng on 79.5. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.

Nat Clifton GOAT Score explained

Dominance72/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Clifton stood above the field while competing. Scored 72/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
Peak84/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1954. Scored 84/100.
Longevity82/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 16 years of competition and 7 recorded seasons. Scored 82/100.
Honours80/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 80/100.
Statistics82/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 82/100.

Nat Clifton — frequently asked

Is Nat Clifton the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Nat Clifton ranks 162nd in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 79.5, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
What is Nat Clifton's GOAT Score?
79.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 72 (25%), Peak 84 (20%), Longevity 82 (20%), Honours 80 (20%), Statistics 82 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Nat Clifton rank all time?
962nd of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 162nd within Basketball.
Nat Clifton vs Charley Hyatt: who ranks higher?
Charley Hyatt, on 79.7 against Nat Clifton's 79.5 — a margin of 0.2 points.
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