Oscar Palmer Robertson (born
November 24, 1938 in Charlotte, Tennessee
), nicknamed "The Big O" or
O-Train, is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks. The 6-foot-5,
220-pound Robertson played the
shooting
guard/
point guard position, and was
a twelve-time
All-Star, eleven-time member
of the
All-NBA Team, and one-time
winner of the
MVP
award in fourteen professional seasons. He is the only player in
NBA history to average a
triple-double
for an entire season, and he is regarded as one of the best and
most versatile NBA players of all time. He was a key player on the
team which brought the Bucks their only NBA championship in the
1970-71 NBA season. However, his
playing career, especially during high school and college, was
plagued by racism.
For his
outstanding achievements, Robertson was inducted into the Basketball Hall
of Fame
in 1980, and was voted one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA
History in 1996. The
United States
Basketball Writers Association renamed their college Player of
the Year Award the
Oscar
Robertson Trophy in his honor in 1998, and he was one of five
people chosen to represent the inaugural
National Collegiate
Basketball Hall of Fame class in 2006.
Robertson was also an integral part of the
Oscar Robertson suit of 1970. The
landmark NBA
antitrust suit, named after
the then-president of the
NBA
Players' Association, led to an extensive reform of the
league's strict
free agency and
draft rules and, subsequently, to higher
salaries for all players.
Early Years
Robertson
was born in poverty and grew up in a segregated housing project in Indianapolis
. In contrast to many other boys who
preferred to play
baseball, he was drawn to
basketball because it was "a poor kids' game." Because his family
could not afford a basketball, he learned how to shoot by tossing
tennis balls and rags bound with rubber bands into a peach basket
behind his family's home.
Robertson attended Crispus Attucks
High School
, a segregated all-black school.
High school career
At Crispus Attucks, Robertson's coach was Ray Crowe, whose emphasis
on a fundamentally sound game had a positive effect on Robertson's
style of play. In 1954, as a sophomore, he starred on an Attucks
team that lost in the semi-state finals (state quarterfinals) to
eventual state champions Milan, whose story would later be the
basis of the 1986 movie classic
Hoosiers.But with Robertson leading the team,
Crispus Attucks proceeded to dominate its opposition, going 31–1 in
1955 and winning the first state championship for any all-black
school in the nation. The following year the team finished with a
perfect 31–0 record and won a second straight state title, becoming
the first team in Indiana to secure a perfect season along the way
to a state-record 45 straight victories. The state championships
won by the all-black school were the first-ever for Indianapolis.
However, the celebrations were cut short by the city's leaders. The
players were driven outside of town to hold their party because,
said Robertson in the
Indianapolis Star, "They said the
blacks are gonna tear up downtown." Robertson was also named
Indiana "Mr. Basketball" in 1956, after
scoring 24.0 points per game during his senior season.
After his graduation
that year, Robertson enrolled at the University of
Cincinnati
.
College career
Robertson continued to dominate his opponents while at Cincinnati,
recording an incredible scoring average of 33.8 points per game,
the third highest in college history. In each of his three years,
he won the national scoring title, was named an All-American, and
was chosen College Player of the Year, while setting 14
NCAA and 19 school records. Robertson's stellar play
led the
Bearcats to a 79–9
overall record during his three varsity seasons, including two
Final Four appearances. However, a
championship eluded Robertson, a phenomenon which would become a
repeated occurrence in his later career. When Robertson left
college he was the all-time leading NCAA scorer until fellow Hall
of Fame player
Pete Maravich topped
him in 1970.
Despite his success on the court, Robertson's college career was
soured by racism. He was Cincinnati's fifth black player, preceded
by Chester Smith (1932), London Gant (1936), Willard Stargel
(1942), and Tom Overton (1951). Road trips to segregated cities
were especially difficult, with Robertson often sleeping in college
dorms instead of hotels. "I'll never forgive them," he told the
Indianapolis Star years later. Decades after his college days,
Robertson's stellar NCAA career was rewarded by the United States
Basketball Writers Association when, in 1998, they renamed the
trophy awarded to the NCAA Division I Player of the Year the
Oscar Robertson Trophy. This
honor brought the award full circle for Robertson since he had won
the first two awards ever presented.
1960 Olympics
After college, Robertson co-captained the United States
basketball team at
the
1960 Summer Olympics with
Jerry West. The team, described as the
greatest assemblage of amateur basketball talent ever, went
undefeated during the competition to win the
gold medal. Robertson was a starting
forward along with
Purdue's
Terry Dischinger, but played
point guard as well. He was the co-leading
scorer with fellow NBA legend
Jerry
Lucas, as the United States team won its nine games by a
dominating margin of 42.4 points per game. Ten of the twelve
college players on the American squad later played professionally
in the NBA, including future Hall-of-Famers West, Lucas, and
Walt Bellamy.
Professional career
Cincinnati Royals
Prior to the
1960-61 NBA season,
Robertson made himself eligible for the
1960 NBA Draft. There, he was drafted by the
Cincinnati Royals as a territorial
pick. The Royals also gave Robertson a $33,000 signing bonus, a far
cry from his childhood days when he was too poor to afford a
basketball. Robertson soon proved worthy of their trust, continuing
to dominate his opposition on the professional level. In his rookie
season, Robertson finished with incredible all-around stats of 30.5
points, 10.1
rebounds and 9.7
assists (leading the league), almost
averaging a
triple-double for the
entire season. For his spectacular performance, he was named
NBA Rookie of the Year, was
elected into the
All-NBA First Team –
which would happen in each of Robertson's first nine years – and
made the first of 12
All-Star Game
appearances. In addition, he was named the
1961 NBA All-Star Game MVP following
his 23 point, 14 assist, and 9 rebound performance in a West
victory. However, the Royals finished with a dismal 33–46 record
and stayed in the cellar of the Western Division.
In the
1961-62 NBA season,
Robertson wrote NBA history. In that season, he became the only
player in NBA history to average a triple-double for the entire
season, averaging 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds per
game. He also convincingly broke the assists record by
Bob Cousy, who had recorded 715 regular season
assists two seasons earlier, by logging 899 of them. The Royals
earned a playoff berth; however,
they were eliminated in the first round by the
Detroit Pistons. In the following
1962-63 NBA season, Robertson further
established himself as one of the greatest players of his
generation, averaging an impressive 28.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and
9.5 assists, narrowly missing out on another triple-double season.
The Royals would charge into the Eastern Division Finals, but then
succumb in a grueling seven games series against a great Boston
Celtics team led by
Bill Russell.
In the
1963-64 NBA season, the
Royals achieved an impressive 55–25 record, which meant second
place in the Eastern Division. Under new coach
Jack McMahon, Robertson flourished, and for the
first time in his career, he had a decent supporting cast: second
scoring option
Jack Twyman was now
supplemented by blossoming frontcourt players
Jerry Lucas and
Wayne
Embry, and fellow guard
Adrian Smith helped Robertson in
the backcourt. Robertson had another magnificent season, leading
the NBA in free-throw percentage, scoring a career-high 31.4 points
per game, and averaging 9.9 rebounds and 11.0 assists per game—just
missing another triple-double season. In fact, the averages for his
first five seasons in the NBA are a triple-double again: 30.3
points per game, 10.4 rebounds and 10.6 assists. For his feats, he
won the
NBA MVP Award and became the only
player other than legendary centers
Bill
Russell and
Wilt Chamberlain to
win this title from 1960 to 1968. Robertson also won his second
All-Star Game MVP award that year after scoring 26 points, grabbing
14 rebounds, and dishing off 8 assists in an East victory.
In the postseason, the Royals defeated the
Philadelphia 76ers led by Wilt
Chamberlain, but then were dominated by the Celtics losing four
games to one.
From a win–loss perspective, however, this season would be
Robertson's last successful Royals season. From the
1964-65 NBA season on, things began to
turn sour for the franchise. Despite Robertson's stellar play,
never failing to record averages of at least 24.7 points, 6.0
rebounds and 8.1 assists in the six following years, the Royals
were eliminated in the first round three times in a row from 1965
to 1967, and then even missed the playoffs three consecutive
seasons from 1968 to 1970. In the
1969-70 NBA season, the sixth
disappointing season in a row, fan support was waning. To attract
the public, 41-year old head coach
Bob
Cousy even made a short-lived comeback. For seven games, the
legendary Celtics
point guard partnered
Robertson in the Royals' backcourt, but they still missed the
playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks and the 'Oscar Robertson suit'
Prior to the
1970–71 season, the
Royals stunned the basketball world by trading Robertson to the
Milwaukee Bucks for
Flynn Robinson and
Charlie Paulk. Officially, no reasons were
named, but many pundits suspected head coach Bob Cousy was jealous
of all the attention Robertson was getting. Robertson himself said:
"I think he [Cousy] was wrong and I will never forget it."
However, the trade proved highly beneficial for the veteran
Robertson. After being stuck with an under-performing team for the
last six years, he now was paired with the young Lew Alcindor, who
would years later become the all-time NBA scoring leader under the
name of
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
With Alcindor in the low post and Robertson running the backcourt,
the Bucks charged to a league best 66–16 record, including a
then-record
20-game
win streak, a dominating 12–2 record
in the playoffs, and crowned their season
with the NBA title by routing the
Baltimore Bullets 4–0 in the
1971 NBA Finals. For the first time in his
career, Robertson had won a championship on the NCAA or NBA
level.
From a historical perspective, however, Robertson's most important
contribution was made not on the court, but rather
in court. It was the year of the landmark
Oscar Robertson suit, an
antitrust suit filed by the NBA's Players
Association against the league. As Robertson was the president of
the Players Association, the case bore his name. In this suit, the
proposed
ABA-NBA merger between the
NBA and the
American
Basketball Association was delayed until 1976, and the college
draft as well as the free agency clauses were reformed. Robertson
himself stated that the main reason was that clubs basically owned
their players: players were forbidden to talk to other clubs once
their contract was up, because free agency did not exist back then.
Six years after the suit was filed, the NBA finally reached a
settlement, the
ABA-NBA merger took
place, and the Oscar Robertson suit encouraged signing of more free
agents and eventually led to higher salaries for all players.
On the hardwood, the veteran Robertson still proved he was a
valuable player. Paired with Abdul-Jabbar, two more division titles
with the Bucks followed in the
1971–72 and
1972–73 season. In Robertson's last
season, he helped lead Milwaukee to a league-best 59–23 record and
helped them to reach the
1974 NBA
Finals. There, Robertson had the chance to end his stellar
career with a second ring. The Bucks were matched up against the
Boston Celtics, but powered by an inspired
Dave Cowens, the Bucks lost in seven games. As a
testament to Robertson's importance to the Bucks, in the season
following his retirement the Bucks fell to last place in their
division with a 38–44 record in spite of the continued presence of
Abdul-Jabbar.
Post-NBA career
After he retired as an active player, Robertson stayed involved in
efforts to improve living conditions in his native Indianapolis,
especially concerning fellow
African-Americans. In addition, he worked
as a color commentator with
Brent
Musburger on games televised by
CBS during
the
1974-75 NBA season. After his
retirement, the Kansas City Kings (the Royals moved there while
Robertson was with the Bucks) retired his number 14 jersey; the
retirement continues to be honored by the Kings in their current
home of
Sacramento. The Bucks also
retired the number 1 jersey he wore in Milwaukee.
Since 1994, a
nine-foot bronze statue honors Robertson outside the Fifth Third
Arena at Shoemaker Center
, the current
home of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball. Robertson attends
many of the games there, viewing the Bearcats from a chair at
courtside. After many years outside the spotlight, on November 17,
2006, Robertson was recognized for his impact on college basketball
as a member of the founding class of the
National Collegiate
Basketball Hall of Fame. He was one of five, along with
John Wooden,
Bill Russell,
Dean
Smith and
Dr. James Naismith,
selected to represent the inaugural class.
Legacy
Robertson is regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA
history, a triple threat who could score inside, outside and also
was a stellar playmaker. His rookie scoring average of
30.5 points per game is the third highest of any rookie in NBA
history, and Robertson averaged more than 30 points per game in six
of his first seven seasons. Only two other players in the NBA have
had more 30+ point per game seasons in their career. Robertson was
the first player to average more than 10 assists per game, doing so
at a time when the criteria for assists were more stringent than
today. Furthermore, Robertson is the only guard in NBA history to
ever average more than 10 rebounds per game, doing so three times.
In addition to his 1964 regular season MVP award, Robertson won
three All-Star Game MVPs in his career (in 1961, 1964, and 1969).
He has the all-time highest scoring average in the All-Star Game
for players participating in four or more games (the league
standard for the record) at 20.5 points per game. He ended his
career with 26,710 points (25.7 per game, ninth-highest all time),
9,887 assists (9.5 per game) and 7,804 rebounds (7.5 per game). He
led the league in assists six times, and at the time of his
retirement, he was the NBA's all-time leader in career assists and
free throws made, and was the second all-time leading scorer behind
the legendary Wilt Chamberlain.
Robertson also set yardsticks in versatility. If his first five
seasons are strung together, Robertson averaged a triple-double
over these 400+ games, averaging an incredible 30.3 points, 10.4
rebounds and 10.6 assists. For his career, Robertson had 181
triple-doubles, a record that has never been approached. These
numbers are even more astonishing if it is taken into account that
the three-point shot did not exist when he played, which was
introduced by the NBA in the
1979–80
season and benefits sharpshooting backcourt players. In
1967–68, Robertson also became
the first of only two players in NBA history to lead the league in
both scoring average and assists per game in the same season (also
achieved by
Nate Archibald). The
official scoring and assist titles went to other players that
season, however, because the NBA based the titles on point and
assist totals (not averages) prior to the
1969–70 season. Robertson did, however,
win a total of six NBA assist titles during his career. For his
career, Robertson shot a high .485 field goal average and led the
league in free-throw percentage twice—in the 1963–64 and 1967–68
seasons.
Robertson is recognized by the NBA as the first legitimate "big
guard", paving the way for other over-sized backcourt players like
Magic Johnson. Furthermore, he is also
credited to have invented the head fake and the fadeaway jump shot,
a shot which
Michael Jordan later
became famous for. For the Cincinnati Royals, now relocated and
named the
Sacramento Kings, he
scored 22,009 points and 7,731 assists, and is all-time leader in
both statistics for the combined Royals / Kings teams.
Robertson
was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 28, 1980. He received the "Player
of the Century" award by the
National Association
of Basketball Coaches in 2000 and was ranked third on SLAM
Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players in 2003, behind fellow NBA legends
Michael Jordan and
Wilt Chamberlain. Furthermore, in 2006,
ESPN named Robertson the second greatest point
guard of all time, praising him as the best post-up guard of all
time and placing him only behind
Los
Angeles Lakers legend
Magic
Johnson.
In 1959, the Player of the Year Award was established to recognize
the best college basketball player of the year by the
United States
Basketball Writers Association. Five nominees are presented and
the individual with the most votes receives the award during the
NCAA Final Four. In 1998, it was renamed the
Oscar Robertson Trophy in honor of
the player who won the first two awards because of his outstanding
career and his continuing efforts to promote the game of
basketball. In 2004, an 18" bronze statue of Robertson was sculpted
by world-renowned sculptor
Harry Weber.
Personal life
Robertson is the son of Mazell and Bailey Robertson. He has two
brothers, Bailey Jr. and Henry. He remembers a tough childhood,
plagued by poverty and racism. Due to his troubled childhood,
Robertson was known to be sullen and prone to violent outbreaks.
However after winning the Olympic gold medal, then signing his
first big contract with the Royals and marrying his sweetheart
Yvonne Crittinden within several months, he blossomed into a calm,
content young man. His U.S. Olympic teammate Jerry West remarked
amicably how much Robertson had "grown up" in that year. In the
following years, Robertson fathered daughters Shane Yvonne (b.
1962) and Tia Elaine (b. 1964), and led a private life without
scandal; when a biography was going to be written about him in the
1990s, Robertson joked that his life had been "dull", and that he
had been "married to the same woman for a long time" In 1997,
Robertson donated one of his kidneys to his daughter Tia, who
suffered
lupus-related
kidney failure. He has been an honorary
spokesman for the
National
Kidney Foundation ever since. In 2003, he published his own
biography,
The Big O, after his own nickname. Robertson
also owns the chemical company Orchem, based in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Regarding basketball, Robertson has stated that legendary
Harlem Globetrotters players
Marques Haynes and "clown prince"
Goose Tatum were his idols. Now in his
seventies, he refrains from playing basketball, although he still
follows it on TV, and now lists woodworking as his prime hobby.
Robertson adds that he still could average a triple-double season
in today's basketball, and that he is highly skeptical that anyone
else could do it. He is also rumored to be highly annoyed by
autograph seekers, snarling and being quite rude to them. On June
9, 2007, Oscar received an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from
the University of Cincinnati for both his philanthropic and
entrepreneurial efforts.
See also
Books
- Robertson, Oscar The Art of Basketball: A Guide to
Self-Improvement in the Fundamentals of the Game (1998) ISBN
978-0-966-24830-2
- Robertson, Oscar The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game
(2003) ISBN 1-57954-764-8 autobiography
- Grace, Kevin. "Cincinnati Hoops." Chicago, IL: Arcadia,
2003.
- Grace, Kevin; Hand, Greg; Hathaway, Tom; and Hoffman, Carey.
"Bearcats! The Story of Basketball at the University of
Cincinnati." Louisville, KY: Harmony House, 1998.
- Robertson Oscar, Damian Aromando. "Parquet Cronicles"
(2000)
- "But They Can't Beat Us" Oscar Robertson and the Crispus
Attucks Tigers by Randy Roberts ISBN 1-57167-257-5
References
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