Happy 87th Birthday, Oscar Robertson
- Jake C
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
Cover photo: Oscar Robertson as a University of Cincinnati Bearcat. Photo credit: The University of Cincinnati.
One of the best players in NBA history celebrates a birthday on Nov. 24 as Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson turns 87.
Before he became the first NBA player to ever average a triple-double for an entire season, the Indianapolis, Ind. native led his Crispus Attucks High School team, an all-black school, to Indiana state titles in both 1955 and 1956. He was All-State in both of those years and was Indiana Mr. Basketball.
At the University of Cincinnati, “The Big O” led the Bearcats to a combined 79-9 record, including NCAA title game berths in 1959 and 1960. He was outstanding in all three of his collegiate years, leading the NCAA Division I in scoring in all three seasons (35.1 points, 32.6 points, and 33.7 points) and leading the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding as a sophomore (15.2) and junior (16.3). In all three seasons as a Bearcat, Robertson was a consensus 1st team All-American, All-Conference, All Region, and UPI Player of the Year. He was twice named the United States Basketball Writers’ Association Player of the Year, Helms Player of the Year, and NCAA All-Tournament. Robertson was also Sporting News Player of the Year in all three of his collegiate seasons. His No. 12 is retired by the Bearcats.
In the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Roberson and Jerry West led the USA Men’s National team to a Gold Medal. Robertson was the top pick in the 1960 NBA Draft. West followed as the second overall selection.
For twelve of his fourteen NBA seasons, Robertson was an all-star. He wasted no time acclimating himself to the league, making the All-NBA 1st team and finishing fifth in Most Valuable Player voting as a rookie - 30.5 points (47.3% from the field on 22.5 attempts, 82.2% from the line on 11.2 attempts), 10.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 9.7 assists in 42.7 minutes per game in 71 games.
In his second season of 1961-62, Robertson became the first player in league history to average a triple-double - 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists (1st). He averaged 44.3 minutes per game in 79 games and shot 47.8% (22.9 attempts) from the field and 80.3% (11.0 attempts) from the line. Robertson was 1st team All-NBA again in his second season, a feat that he would achieve in his first nine seasons.
Robertson finished third in MVP voting in 1961-62 in what remains the best MVP race in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain, averaging 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game, did not even finish first. That was reserved for Bill Russell, who averaged 18.9 points, 23.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists for the 60-win championship Boston Celtics.
After 28.3 points (51.8% on 19.9 attempts, 81.0% from the line on 9.5 free-throw attempts), 10.4 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in his third season in 44 minutes in a league-leading 80 games that allowed Robertson to finish third in MVP voting once again, the superstar guard posted four consecutive seasons of over 30 points per game, a stretch that included an MVP and three consecutive assists’ titles.
Oscar Robertson’s Stats: 1963-64 to 1966-67
1963-64: 31.4 points (48.3% FG, 22.0 FGA), 85.3% FT, 11.9 FTA (both 1st), 11.0 assists, 9.9 rebounds, 1st in assists, FT, and FT%, 45.1 minutes, 79 games, 1st team All-NBA, 1st in MVP voting
The 63-64 Royals 114.7 points per game led the NBA. The team finished 55-25 and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Division Semifinals in five games before losing to the Celtics in five games in the Eastern Division Finals. With 31 points, 30 points, 28 points, 31 points, and 32 points in the five games against the 76ers, Robertson posted game-highs. The Royals were a strong team that included Rookie of the Year Jerry Lucas, who averaged 17.7 points and 17.4 rebounds. Wayne Embry averaged 17.3 points and 11.6 rebounds. Robertson against the Celtics scored 34 points in Game 3 and 33 in Game 4, tying a game-high with the Celtics’ Sam Jones.
1964-65: 30.4 points (48.0% FG, 22.4 FGA), 83.9% FT (8.9 FTA, 1st), 11.4 assists, 9.5 rebounds, 45.6 minutes (1st), 75 games, 1st team All-NBA, 2nd in MVP voting
The Royals of 64-65 won 48 games and again had the league’s No. 1 offense, at 114.2 points per game. The team lost to the Wilt Chamberlain-led 76ers in four games in the Eastern Division Semifinals. Robertson in Game 2 of the series scored 40 points.
1965-66: 31.3 points, 47.5% FG, 22.7 FGA), 11.1 assists (1st), 7.7 rebounds, 84.2% FT (11.6 FTA), 46.0 minutes, 76 games, 1st team All-NBA, 3rd in MVP voting
The 65-66 Royals won 45 games and finished third in the league in scoring at 117.8 points per game. In the first round, the team lost to the Celtics in five games. Robertson posted 34 points in Game 4 and 37 points in Game 5. In Game 1, he shared a game-high 26 points with teammate Adrian Smith.
1966-67: 30.5 points (49.3% FG, 21.5 FGA), 87.3 FT%, 10.7 FTA, 10.7 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 43.9 minutes, 79 games, 1st team All-NBA, 4th in MVP voting
The 66-67 Royals won 39 games and lost to the 76ers in four games in the first round, running into a dominant Chamberlain (28.0 points, 26.5 rebounds, 11.0 assists). Robertson for the series averaged 24.8 points and 11.3 rebounds.
Robertson played three more seasons with the Royals, leading the NBA in both scoring (29.2) and assists per game (9.7) in 1967-68 and assists (9.8) in 1968-69. In 1967-68, he also averaged 6.0 rebounds, and shot 50% from the field (20.3 attempts), and an NBA-best 87.3% from the line on an NBA-best 8.9 free-throw makes per game in 65 games, 42.5 minutes per game. He finished fifth in MVP voting in 67-68. In 1968-69, Robertson averaged 24.7 points per game (48.6% on 17.1 attempts and 83.8% from the line on an NBA-best 8.1 free-throw makes per game) and 6.4 rebounds along with the 9.8 assists. He played 43.8 minutes per game in 79 games and was 1st team All-NBA for the final time.
The 1969-70 season was the 31-year-old’s final season with the Royals. In that campaign, he made 2nd team All-NBA with averages of 25.3 points (51.1%, 18.4 attempts and 80.9% from the line on 8.1 attempts from the stripe), 8.1 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in 69 games, 41.5 minutes per game. In Robertson’s Royal career that spanned 752 games and 44.0 minutes per game, he shot 48.9% from the field (21.0 attempts), and 83.7% from the line (10.5 attempts) and averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 assists, and 8.5 rebounds with eight top-five MVP finishes, a scoring title and seven assists’ titles.
On April 21, 1970, the Royals traded Robertson to the Milwaukee Bucks for guard Flynn Robinson and forward Charlie Paulk. The move paired the veteran superstar Robertson with a young superstar center named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Robertson played in 81 games in his first season in Milwaukee (39.4 minutes per game) and posted averages of 19.4 points (49.6% shooting on 14.7 attempts, 85.0% from the free-throw line), 8.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds. He finished fifth in MVP voting as the Bucks improved to 66 wins from 56 the year prior.
In the 71 playoffs, the Bucks defeated the San Francisco Warriors in five games in the opening round, the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the Western Conference Finals, and then swept the Baltimore Bullets in the Finals. In Game 1 against the Warriors, a 107-96 Bucks’ win, Robertson led all scorers with 31 points. In the clinching Game 4 of the Finals, he put up 30 points in the 118-106 Milwaukee win. He played 41 minutes per game in the championship series, averaging 23.5 points (52.3% shooting), 9.5 assists, and 5.0 assists.
In 1972-73, Robertson was an all-star for the final time - 17.4 points (47.2% shooting on 13.9 attempts), 7.7 assists, and 5.0 rebounds in 64 games, 37.3 minutes per game. In his next to last season, Robertson averaged 15.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 4.9 rebounds in 73 games (37.5 minutes per), before posting 12.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 70 games (35.4 minutes) in his final season of 1973-74. In his four seasons with the Bucks, Robertson in 288 games averaged 37.5 minutes and posted 16.3 points (46.8% shooting on 13.3 attempts), 7.5 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Robertson’s 14-year career represented and still represents one of the greatest careers by any player in NBA history. A lot of times, “greatest” and “best” are hyperbole, but not in the case of The Big O. He is one of the greatest and one of the best. Robertson was the forerunner to the all-time guards that would follow him - Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade to name a few. At 6 feet, 5 inches and 205 pounds, Robertson was a big guard not just by the standards of his era but would be even today. His penchant for getting to the free-throw line would be seen in future players like James Harden, and his stupendous season of 1961-62 when he averaged a triple-double stood alone for 55 years as the only instance where a player averaged a triple-double for a season before Russell Westbrook became the second player to average a triple-double in the 2016-17. In the 2021-22 season, Denver Nuggets’ superstar Nikola Jokic joined Robertson and Westbrook in that exclusive group.
Over 1,040 career games, Robertson posted 25.7 points, 9.5 assists, and 7.5 rebounds in 42.2 minutes per game and shot 48.5% from the field on 18.9 attempts per game. He was a career 83.8% shooter from the free-throw line. In his playoff career, Robertson posted eight triple-doubles. His most prolific were 41 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists (March 21,1963) against the Syracuse Nationals, and 43 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists (March 28, 1963) against the Boston Celtics. He scored 40 or more points four times in his playoff career, and scored his career-high of 56 points against the Lakers on Dec. 18, 1964.
Robertson was a 1980 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2006 to the Charter Class of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.
At one time, Boston Celtics’ Hall of Fame head coach and executive Red Auerbach termed Robertson as the best and most versatile player that he has ever seen.
Robertson is one of the last living legends of the early NBA. The NBA family lost Lenny Wilkens on Nov. 9, and West, Russell, Baylor, and Chamberlain are all gone. Robertson and the likes of Bob Cousy (97) and Bob Pettit (92) need to be cherished, as well as the other great players of the NBA’s infant era. There is still Embry, 88, and Lucas, 85. Ray Scott, 87 years of age and a former NBA forward and a basketball encyclopedia, told me in 2024 that Oscar was part of a legendary foursome (Wilt, Russell, Baylor the other three) that brought interest to the NBA in its early days.
Happy 87th to the one of the greatest to ever do it, “The Big O”.
Note: I would also like to acknowledge the 82nd birthday of Detroit Pistons’ legend Dave Bing. The 6 foot, 3 inch guard was a 7-time All-Star, 3-time All-NBA (twice 1st team), the 1966-67 Rookie of the Year, and the MVP (16 points) of the 1976 NBA All-Star Game. He posted career averages of 20.3 points and 6.0 assists, and in his second season led the NBA in field-goal makes and attempts (10.6, 24.0) and free-throw makes and attempts (7.5, 9.4) in 1970-71. Scott, mentioned above, was the NBA’s Coach of the Year with the Pistons in 1973-74, the first African-American Coach of the Year in NBA history. Bing and Bob Lanier formed the Pistons’ star duo at the time and the core of Scott’s group. The Washington, D.C. native Bing was a 1990 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. From 2009-2014, he served as the Mayor of Detroit, the 74th mayor in the city’s history. Happy 82nd birthday to a Pistons’ legend.
Note: Nov. 24 is also the birthday of 5-time NBA All-Star and 1994 and 1995 NBA Finals' winning head coach Rudy Tomjanovic, who turns 77. A native of Hamtramck, Mich., Tomjanovic from 1973-1977 made four consecutive All-Star Games, and again was an All-Star in 1979. He had his best season in 1973-74 when he averaged 24.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. For his career, he posted averages of 17.4 points (50.1% shooting) and 8.1 rebounds per game. Tomjanovic was an NBA head coach from 1991-2005, coaching the Houston Rockets to championships in 1994 and 1995 (58 and 47 victories). He coached the Lakers in the 2004-05 season, going 24-19. Tomjanovic finished his coaching career with 527 wins and 416 losses. In 2021, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!" exclamation after the Rockets won the 1995 Finals is one of the most legendary soundbites in NBA history. Happy 77th to "Rudy T".
