Bob Dyer: Nate Thurmond was a gem

Photo: N/A, License: N/AIt’s October 1989, and Nate Thurmond is driving his BMW 528e across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Just a few days later, this same bridge will get pancaked during a massive earthquake that will kill 72 people and leave large portions of the city in rubble.

But on this sunny autumn afternoon, the Hall of Fame basketball player and a guest from his hometown of Akron are cruising along, Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car cranked up on the stereo, sunroof peeled back to reveal the glistening, legendary skyline of downtown San Francisco.

His car is indeed fast, but he’s not driving particularly fast. He is driving like a regular person, the kind of person he worked hard to…