Robert Archibald

At the time of his death in 2020, Robert Archibald held the distinction of being the only Scot to play in the NBA. Born in Paisley, he was the son of the former Scotland and Great Britain captain Bobby Archibald and, like his father, he also went on to play for Scotland and GB as either a centre or forward. Robert’s first club was Dunfermline Reign before he won a basketball scholarship to the University of Illinois. After an outstanding NCAA career, he was drafted into the NBA with Memphis Grizzlies in 2002, and over the next two years, following trades, he also played for Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors.

In 2004 Archibald moved to Europe where he spent eight seasons and played for some top clubs like Valencia, Scavolini Pesaro and Joventut Badalona, with whom he won the EuroCup in 2006, when they easily beat the Russian club BC Khimik 88-63 in the final. He also played in Spain with Unicaja Malaga and CAI Zaragoza. Archibald won the first of 42 Great Britain caps in 2007, and played in the 2009 and 2011 EuroBasket tournaments. After the 2012 London Olympics, Archibald retired and returned to the United States, where he worked in the insurance business.