Oscar Robertson aka The Big O(rgasm).
August 19th 2007 10:10
Who is the greatest all-round player in the history of the game? Magic
Johnson? Great, but not the greatest. Larry Bird, maybe? The hick from French Lick is badass, but not bad to the bone. Jason Kidd? Puh-lease, don’t even trip. LeBron James, perhaps? Now, you’re just being ridiculous.
The aforementioned players are great ballers in a multifaceted manner but don’t hold a candle to Oscar Robertson.
There is a reason why Oscar carries the nickname the ‘Big O’ and it isn’t just because it is the first letter of his name – observing Robertson do his thing is the closest thing to having an orgasm watching the game of basketball being played.
Before we get into a dissertation as to why The Big O is the greatest all-round player to put a ball through a metal hoop, let’s get out the basic facts of the man:
Date of Birth: 24th November, 1938.
Height: 6’5”
Draft: 1960, Cincinnati Royals (1st overall). Traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1970.
Average Points per Game: 25.7
Average Rebounds per Game: 7.5
Average Assists per Game: 9.5
Honours: Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1980); NBA champion (1971); NBA MVP (1964); Nine-time All-NBA First Team (1961-69); All NBA Second Team (1970, '71); Rookie of the Year (1961); 12-time NBA All-Star (1961-72); All-Star MVP (1961, '64, '69); One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996); Olympic gold medallist (1960).
Source: NBA.com
Now, that the preliminaries are over, let’s get into the meat and bones of the career of a one, Oscar Palmer Robertson.
Jason Kidd may have had a very impressive postseason this year and Magic Johnson may have owned the triple-double crown in terms of players that have balled since the ‘80s, but it is Oscar who is the standard bearer of filling numbers in every important statistical category.
Want to know how good he was as a triple-double threat? Are you really sure you can handle the truth? Please, show me a sign that you really want the details because Robertson’s numbers are almost unimaginable in their magnitude. Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me dear reader with your begging.
Take a deep breath, and make sure you’re sitting down. In just Robertson’s second year as an NBA pro he averaged for the season: 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game. That my friend is a triple-double for the entire season!
A couple of posts ago we talked about Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point scoring night, but Robertson’s triple-double season may be more impressive because he set such a high standard for an entire season! These numbers will never, ever be replicated by an individual again.
As great as his 1961-62 season was, Robertson’s 14 year NBA career was filled with so many highlights and dizzying numbers that it’s disappointing his name doesn’t pop up as often as it should when discussing the greatest player in history. Amassing 26, 710 career points, with only eight players having scored more points, Robertson was a prolific shooting machine.
Magic Johnson and John Stockton has surpassed Robertson’s career assist total, but this is slightly misleading because the Big O played in an era when the stat was rewarded much less easily. Further proof of Robertson’s all-game capabilities came in one year when he led his team in rebounding, which is unheard of for a guard.
Growing up in a period of deep racial segregation and Black disempowerment, Robertson learnt the game of basketball from shooting a tennis ball and rags bound with rubber bands through a peach basket.
Attending Crispus Attucks High School, which was an all-Black school that didn’t even have a gym, Robertson’s game was polished by his varsity coach. White schools refused to play against Crispus before Oscar showed up and changed everything.
Robertson led his team to two state high school championships, while being named ‘Mr. Basketball’ of Indiana. In leading his team to the state titles, Crispus became the first all African-American school to achieve such a feat due to the Big O.
Throughout Oscar’s early career he had to battle the evil of racism that was lurking in every corner. After Crispus won, the team had to go out of town to celebrate their victory due to the unsubstantiated fears of city officials that Blacks would tear the place apart.
When he attended college at Cincinnati, Oscar became the first Black player to ever play for the school. When his team would visit opponents in the other schools, he wasn’t allowed into the hotels where his teammates stayed, even if he was the best player in the nation. For that treatment, Robertson, stated he would never forgive them for what they did (NBA.com).
In his early years as a pro, Robertson, was nothing short of amazing in his performances, with the triple-double season in ’61-’62, and almost repeating the same feat the following year, falling short with a rebound average of 9.5. Oscar was sublime.
Individual accolades came easily for the Big O, but team success was much harder to come by.
The Cincinnati Royals found it impossible to get past the great 76er and Celtic teams of the era, with Robertson continually frustrated by those wonderful squads.
Cincinnati would stun the basketball world prior to the 1970-71 season when they traded Robertson to Milwaukee for a bag of mouldy bread and a used teabag. Well, it wasn’t quite that bad, but what the Bucks gave up were players that didn’t even inhabit the same stratosphere as Robertson.
Teaming up with a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson, would finally taste championship glory when he went to Milwaukee, leading to the inevitable question of: Is the Big O the greatest player ever? You decide.
Today’s video is the Big O weaving his magic on the NBA hardwood.
Oscar Robertson could possibly be the greatest of all time. (Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty Images)
The aforementioned players are great ballers in a multifaceted manner but don’t hold a candle to Oscar Robertson.
There is a reason why Oscar carries the nickname the ‘Big O’ and it isn’t just because it is the first letter of his name – observing Robertson do his thing is the closest thing to having an orgasm watching the game of basketball being played.
Before we get into a dissertation as to why The Big O is the greatest all-round player to put a ball through a metal hoop, let’s get out the basic facts of the man:
Date of Birth: 24th November, 1938.
Height: 6’5”
Draft: 1960, Cincinnati Royals (1st overall). Traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1970.
Average Points per Game: 25.7
Average Rebounds per Game: 7.5
Average Assists per Game: 9.5
Honours: Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1980); NBA champion (1971); NBA MVP (1964); Nine-time All-NBA First Team (1961-69); All NBA Second Team (1970, '71); Rookie of the Year (1961); 12-time NBA All-Star (1961-72); All-Star MVP (1961, '64, '69); One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996); Olympic gold medallist (1960).
Source: NBA.com
Now, that the preliminaries are over, let’s get into the meat and bones of the career of a one, Oscar Palmer Robertson.
Jason Kidd may have had a very impressive postseason this year and Magic Johnson may have owned the triple-double crown in terms of players that have balled since the ‘80s, but it is Oscar who is the standard bearer of filling numbers in every important statistical category.
Want to know how good he was as a triple-double threat? Are you really sure you can handle the truth? Please, show me a sign that you really want the details because Robertson’s numbers are almost unimaginable in their magnitude. Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me dear reader with your begging.
Take a deep breath, and make sure you’re sitting down. In just Robertson’s second year as an NBA pro he averaged for the season: 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game. That my friend is a triple-double for the entire season!
A couple of posts ago we talked about Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point scoring night, but Robertson’s triple-double season may be more impressive because he set such a high standard for an entire season! These numbers will never, ever be replicated by an individual again.
As great as his 1961-62 season was, Robertson’s 14 year NBA career was filled with so many highlights and dizzying numbers that it’s disappointing his name doesn’t pop up as often as it should when discussing the greatest player in history. Amassing 26, 710 career points, with only eight players having scored more points, Robertson was a prolific shooting machine.
The Big O gives NBA fans chills with his basketball thrills. (Image from nba.com)
Growing up in a period of deep racial segregation and Black disempowerment, Robertson learnt the game of basketball from shooting a tennis ball and rags bound with rubber bands through a peach basket.
Attending Crispus Attucks High School, which was an all-Black school that didn’t even have a gym, Robertson’s game was polished by his varsity coach. White schools refused to play against Crispus before Oscar showed up and changed everything.
Robertson led his team to two state high school championships, while being named ‘Mr. Basketball’ of Indiana. In leading his team to the state titles, Crispus became the first all African-American school to achieve such a feat due to the Big O.
Throughout Oscar’s early career he had to battle the evil of racism that was lurking in every corner. After Crispus won, the team had to go out of town to celebrate their victory due to the unsubstantiated fears of city officials that Blacks would tear the place apart.
When he attended college at Cincinnati, Oscar became the first Black player to ever play for the school. When his team would visit opponents in the other schools, he wasn’t allowed into the hotels where his teammates stayed, even if he was the best player in the nation. For that treatment, Robertson, stated he would never forgive them for what they did (NBA.com).
In his early years as a pro, Robertson, was nothing short of amazing in his performances, with the triple-double season in ’61-’62, and almost repeating the same feat the following year, falling short with a rebound average of 9.5. Oscar was sublime.
Individual accolades came easily for the Big O, but team success was much harder to come by.
The Cincinnati Royals found it impossible to get past the great 76er and Celtic teams of the era, with Robertson continually frustrated by those wonderful squads.
Cincinnati would stun the basketball world prior to the 1970-71 season when they traded Robertson to Milwaukee for a bag of mouldy bread and a used teabag. Well, it wasn’t quite that bad, but what the Bucks gave up were players that didn’t even inhabit the same stratosphere as Robertson.
Teaming up with a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson, would finally taste championship glory when he went to Milwaukee, leading to the inevitable question of: Is the Big O the greatest player ever? You decide.
Today’s video is the Big O weaving his magic on the NBA hardwood.
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