While Oscar Robertson is a very known local figure, he is also one of the greatest players in basketball history that nobody ever knew about.
Oscar grew up in a segregated area of Indianapolis, where he was too poor to even afford a basketball. He would also attend a segregated all black high school.
The Big O, as he was called back in the day, played 3 seasons of college basketball at the University of Cincinnati (back then, freshmen weren’t allowed to play at the NCAA level). He averaged 33.8 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game in 88 games at UC. Robertson made a name for himself in the record books, setting 14 NCAA records and 19 school records. In his three years he led the Bearcats to a 79-9 record and led the team to two final four appearances.
His NBA career was just as impressive as his college career. After college, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals (current day Sacramento Kings) and played there for 10 seasons before getting traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Robertson was amazing from the start of his NBA career. He almost averaged a triple double every game (30.5 points per game, 10.1 rebounds, 9.7 assists) and won rookie of the year. The next season he did average triple double numbers, becoming the only player in NBA history to do so. Though he put up great numbers in his years with the Royals, he never won an NBA championship with them. In fact, Robertson’s near triple double stats in the first season didn’t show for anything, as the Royals finished 33-46 for the season. But in his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks, he finally won an NBA championship. Robertson would retire in 1974 after 14 seasons of NBA basketball, and both the Royals and the Bucks would retire his jersey.
Robertson would also make contributions to the US olympic team in 1960. Coming off of his senior year at UC, Robertson was selected as a player for the US mens olympic basketball team. That year in Rome USA would go undefeated and win gold.
“Basketball wasn’t what it is today, … Being brought up in the ghetto, my parents were told, long before I came along, that education was the
way out.” – Oscar Robertson.
The Sports Scoop 