Nater’s Turnaround Has Very Little to Do With a Jump Shot

Swen Nater, who used to play basketball for the Clippers and the Lakers, plays now for Christ.

“I became a Christian when I was 15 years old, but for about 10 years you wouldn’t have known I was a Christian at all,” Nater said.

“Then when I was with the Buffalo Braves, I was really going down. I was getting into drugs and everything. All of a sudden in a hotel room, I just couldn’t turn on the TV. I was in Denver with the Buffalo Braves in January of 1978. I saw a Bible laying there and I just picked it up and started reading it. My whole life just totally turned around; basketball and everything.

“I was into cocaine, but I haven’t touched anything since that date. I owe the Lord a lot. I’d be down and out if it wasn’t for him.”

Nater, a 6-foot 11-inch, 250-pound center, is playing now with Athletes in Action, which is preparing for a three-game series against the Soviet national team starting tonight in Sacramento. The teams will play Saturday night in San Diego and Monday night at 7:30 in the Forum.

Athletes in Action is a team of former college and pro players. The players are paid a nominal salary. At halftime during each game they talk about Christ, drug abuse, drunk driving and child abuse.

In the game at the Forum, Nater may be matched against 7-2 center Arvidas Sabonis, who was selected by the Portland Trial Blazers in the first round of the NBA draft last June. Sabonis’ availability is not certain, however. He has a heel injury and was hoping to rejoin the team somewhere along its tour of the United States but was still in the Soviet Union early this week.

Nater would like the opportunity to play against him. “I’ve never played against Sabonis, but I’ve seen him and he’s real, real good,” he said. “He’s mobile and agile. He’s a lot like Ralph Sampson. He’s a very good shooter and he can handle the ball a little bit. He’s definitely one of a kind in Europe.”

During his NBA career, Nater played with and against some of the best in this country. It was surprising he made it that far, however, because he didn’t play until he was in junior college at Cypress in 1968. He played there for two years before transferring to UCLA.

Nater sat out his first season at UCLA, then, as the backup center to Bill Walton. He played on the Bruin teams that won NCAA championships in 1971 and 1972.

He played for three seasons in the American Basketball Assn., with Virginia, before signing with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976.

Nater was traded to Buffalo in 1977 and he played for six seasons for the franchise that began life as the Buffalo Braves, then became the San Diego and later L.A. Clippers. He ended his NBA career with the Lakers in 1983-84.

“Playing for the Lakers was a tremendous experience,” Nater said. “I think Pat Riley is a great coach. He was probably the best coach I played for in the NBA. It was a great experience, being on a winning team with a bunch of winners.

“But I was on some teams that weren’t that good, like the Milwaukee Bucks. When the Clippers first came to San Diego, we were a winning team before they made the big mistake and traded for Walton. The compensation blew us away. We lost half the team. (The Clippers) have a long way to go.”

Nater played in Italy for a year before retiring to go into coaching. He’s an assistant coach at Christian Heritage College in El Cajon, a small school that recently started a basketball program. Nater will accompany AIA on a European tour next month, but he will return to coaching at Heritage Christian.

Nater, 36, is still collecting deferred compensation from the Clippers. “I’m not set for life, but I’m doing all right,” he said. “I don’t miss the life style of the NBA. I don’t miss being away for two weeks at a time. I miss the competition.”

Although there are flecks of gray in his hair, Nater appears to be in good shape. Asked, though, if he wanted to get back into the NBA, Nater said: “I’m 36 years old, almost 37. This is as much as I can do, believe me.”