Oscar Robertson

Oscar Robertson, otherwise known as “The Big O” is viewed as one of the best NBA players of all time. Robertson was a 6’5” 220 pound guard who is widely considered one of the best all around players to ever play the game of basketball. Elected into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, Robertson was named the NBA’s MVP in 1964 and was a nine time first team all NBA.

Robertson was a player who was a high scorer, averaging over 29 points a game for his career but was also able to dish out assists finishing with an average of 9.5 assists per game over the course of his 14 year career.

Robertson retired after the 1973/74 season at the age of 35. He finished with a career low in both points scored and assists made.

Robertson was also an Olympic Medal winner, playing on the 1960 United State Olympics team that won the Gold Medal.

The Big O played for just two teams in his career, the majority with the now defunct Cincinnati Royals, and his final four seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks.http://www.nba.com/history/players/robertson_bio.html

Robertson was the first overall pick in the NBA’s 1960 amateur draft. After starring at the University of Cincinnati the professional Cincinnati Royals were able to select Robertson thanks to an NBA rule that allowed teams to select one player from their pre-determined territory.

Robertson was third in the league in scoring during his rookie season and won the NBA rookie of the year while being selected to the first of 12 straight NBA All-Star games.

In his second season, Robertson was able to average a triple-double, meaning that he scored an average in the double digits in three separate categories. In The Big O’s case that meant averaging more than 30 points a game while hauling down 12.5 rebounds per contest and dishing out 11.4 assists.

While the Royals were one of the better teams in the league during Robertson’s early playing days they were never able to win a championship thanks to the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers dominating the era.

Before the 1970/71 season the Cincinnati Royals felt that Robertson was in decline and dealt him to the Milwaukee Bucks. While Robertson did not score at the same levels he had in his prime, Oscar teamed with Bucks’ rookie Kareem Abdul Jabbar to win the franchise’s only NBA title.

Robertson played point guard for the Bucks team that went a league best 66-16 and beat the Baltimore Bullets four games to none in the final series.

Robertson’s production continued to decline until he finally called it a career after his fourth season in Milwaukee. In his final season, the Bucks again made the NBA finals but lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/roberos01.html