He said at the ceremony that athletes should not pass up a chance to represent their homeland. Oscar Robertson, in full Oscar Palmer Robertson, byname the Big O, (born November 24, 1938, Charlotte, Tennessee, U.S.), American basketball player who starred in both the collegiate and professional ranks and was considered one of the top players in the history of the game. Luckily, both legends got their just due. Oscar Robertson vs Jo Jo White. Basketball, Thinking, Able. Charleston, WV (25301) Today. Oscar Robertson was the only college player to finish the March Madness career with four triple-doubles. Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; from Robertsons complementary role on the Bucks to Wests proneness to injury, both players were eventually affected by these factors. I will say that Oscar fits the 'all around' definition better - he was *almost* as good at scoring as Jerry although not quite matching up to West's peak scoring abilities, he was a better rebounder and also a better passer (both by . Oscar Palmer Robertson (pron. [62] However, he laid down the foundation of the Lakers three-peat, which saw L.A. win three NBA titles from 2000-2002. Jerry West talks about how losing to the Celtics multiple times in The Finals affected his mindset and demeanor during his career. In Game 7, a 15-foot Frank Selvy jumper at the buzzer that would have won the game in regulation bounced off the rim. The Big O's best statistical season came in 1961-62 when he averaged a . I could've played another very good year. The two go back quite a ways. Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn bestowed the nickname. It sounds like trash talk before its time, but West did not christen himself. Of the 87 regular season matchups, West holds a 50-37 lead, though Robertson outscored his counterpart by 28.5 to 27.7 points per game. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. West holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3. [21] This team perennially had strong forwards and guards, but was constantly weak at center, giving them a disadvantage against the Boston Celtics with their Hall-of-Fame center, Bill Russell. Jerry West SG. No one was affected more by those defeats than West. [53][54], The 197374 NBA season was to be West's last as a player. 3 Copy quote. Robertson named West among his top five. He spoke with a high pitched voice that became even shriller when he became excited so that Lakers captain Elgin Baylor dubbed West "Tweety Bird". Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938)[3][4] is an American basketball executive and former player. Robertson reciprocated Wests characterization of him earlier this year. Also, Oscar declined more rapidly than West so the seasons where Robertson was better early in their careers are partially balanced by the seasons where West was better later in their careers. Oscar Robertson, however, demurred about change in general in basketball. [8][10] He was so small, frail, and weak that he needed many vitamin injections from his doctor and was kept apart from children's sports, to prevent him from getting seriously injured. West and Co. got their revenge the following season, as The Logo led the NBA in assists and LA got a legendary game from Wilt Chamberlain en route to a title. Oscar Robertson vs Jerry West. Oscar was sitting right there. On May 19, 2011, West joined the Golden State Warriors as an executive board member, reporting directly to new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. Rather, he bestowed that honor on Oscar Robertson. [24], In West's second NBA season, the Lakers could only make limited use of Baylor, who was called up by the U.S. Army Reserves and could play only 48 games. [45] However, more frustration awaited West in Game 5, when Reed pulled his thigh muscle and seemed out for the series; instead of capitalizing on a double-digit lead and reeling off an easy win, the Lakers committed 19 second-half turnovers, and the two main scorers Chamberlain and West shot the ball only three and two times, respectively, in the entire second half and lost 107100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history. FTA complete back to 1948-49. His brilliance on and off the floor propelled West to call his former rival the best player of their era. MIES (Switzerland) - It happened more than half a century ago, yet for two of the biggest legends in the sport, USA's Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, memories of the gold-medal winning run at the Olympic Games in Rome are crystal clear. Lillard was the only one to accomplish . After helping the Golden State Warriors win the championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers, on June 14, 2017, West announced that he would go to the Los Angeles Clippers as an executive board member and consultant. Across their respective decades of dominance, Robertson holds the edge in essentially every category, from health (games played) to counting statistics to shooting ratios to advanced metrics; this is of course no knock on West (whose best-decade numbers are still scintillating), but speaks to how truly dominant the Big O was at his peak. [8] West eventually became the team's starting small forward, and he quickly established himself as one of the finest West Virginia high school players of his generation. As a rookie, West would make the first of 14 straight All-Star teams by averaging 17.6 points (41.9% shooting), 7.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. At the same time, West was likewise a standout high school player, winning West Virginia Player of the Year honors and leading his high school team to a state championship. West's NBA career was highly successful. Every bit West's equal was Baylor. This practice remained in effect until the school closed in 1999. At such a time, Oscar Robertson set the game afire with his spate of triple-doubles for the Cincinnati Royals. It was 200 degrees and a heat wave in Rome. [15] The Lakers won 46 games, and in the 1970 NBA Playoffs, they narrowly beat the Phoenix Suns in seven games and swept the Hawks in four, setting up the first NBA Finals between the Lakers and the rugged New York Knicks, led by Hall-of-Famers, such as Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, and Walt Frazier. [38] In return, the center blasted Van Breda Kolff as "the dumbest and worst coach ever". During his 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, West became synonymous with brilliant basketball. In 1980, West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and named to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team. Moreover, during that final year, he had 30 double-doubles and fifteen 30-point games. He was responsible for perhaps the most famous buzzer-beater of all time: a 60-foot swish that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. After losing Elgin Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career, West himself injured his knee and was out for the season; the short-handed Lakers lost the Western Conference Finals in five games to the championship-bound Milwaukee Bucks, who were led by freshly-crowned Most Valuable Player Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Oscar Robertson. West averaged 46.3 points per game, a figure that is still an NBA record. Advertisement. "I had no tools to get better other than my own hard work," West said. Oscar Robertson: Cincinnati Royals (1960-1970) Milwaukee Bucks (1970-1974) Jerry West: Los Angeles Lakers (1960-1974) By Oscar Robertson Aug. 7, 2010 Let me tell you about the original Dream Team, the 1960 United States Olympic gold medalist basketball team coached by Pete Newell, with Jerry West and me as the co . To get the center, the Lakers traded West's backcourt partner Archie Clark, starting center Darrall Imhoff and backup forward Jerry Chambers to Philadelphia. It was particularly frustrating because I was playing so poorly that the team overcame me. Despite Wests playoff heroics, which included leading the postseason in scoring average 4x (highlighted by a career-best 40.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game in the 1965 playoffs), the 1960s saw six Finals losses to the rival Celtics (1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969). The East Bank High School legend and Oscar Robertson also led the United States basketball team to the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. But his all-around excellence was unprecedented for a guard. We got one dollar a day as a per diem. Following another five-game loss to Boston in 1963-1964, Cincinnati would never again make it past the first round with Robertson. Jerry West. Oscar Robertson vs Russell Westbrook. "[8] West incredibly connected, and this basket was later called one of the greatest moments ever by the NBA. [8] The Lakers hired former Celtics star guard and future Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Sharman as head coach. [22], In the 196566 NBA season, West averaged a career-best 31.3points, along with 7.1rebounds and 6.1assists per game. He grew up in Cheylan, West Virginia, although his family got its mail in Cabin Creek. should play. [8] West demonstrated his tenacity for the game in a match against the Kentucky Wildcats. Clutch". Damian Lillard became the 4th player in NBA history with 200 points and 60 assists in a playoff series, joining LeBron James, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. [23] On the floor, West scored 17.6points, grabbed 7.7rebounds and gave 4.2assists per game. The next season, though he averaged 27.1 points per game, he only played in 55 games; injuries and missed games were a prevalent theme throughout Wests career, as he would play in fewer than 70 regular season games in half of his 14 NBA seasons. [15], In the 1968 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls and the Warriors to set up yet another Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals; it was considered a match of size versus speed, as the Lakers had nobody to guard Celtics coach/center Bill Russell or forward John Havlicek close to the basket, but the Celtics in return had difficulties guarding prolific L.A. outside shooters Baylor, West and fellow guard Gail Goodrich. 44 jersey in 1983. "[36], On July 9, 1968, the Lakers made a trade that brought reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers to Los Angeles at the beginning of the 196869 NBA season. [8], In the summer of 2000, the city of Morgantown, West Virginia, and West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood, dedicated the road outside of the West Virginia University Coliseum, "Jerry West Boulevard". A loss just ripped his guts out., Its no wonder. During the 1969-1970 season, he would win his only scoring title by averaging 31.2 points on 49.7% shooting to go with 4.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game; moreover, after two seasons as a Second Team All-NBA selection, West returned to First Team status and also garnered the first of four consecutive All-Defensive First Team nods. After two years away from basketball, West became the Lakers coach before the 1976-77 season. Oscar Robertson weighs in as Russell Westbrook attempts to join the Big O's one-man club. "There's all the publicity today for a 19-year-old player who might not be that good a player. Wests long wait had ended. [44] As the three-point line had not been introduced yet, the shot just tied the game. In his final NBA season in 1973-1974, West was still a highly productive player (20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game), but injuries limited him to only 31 games played and at the conclusion of the season, he would retire from the NBA at age 35. But just a word to . NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, NBA Legends: Profiling the league's greats, 5 takeaways from Durant's debut with Suns, Durant expected to make Suns debut tonight, David Benner, Pacers longtime PR director, dies, NBA DFS Picks: Yahoo plays & strategy for March 1, Kia Rookie Ladder: State of chase after All-Star, NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer Wednesday 3/1. The latter is a concept that has been derided as "a fancy word for you haven't done it yet. This meant that points and rebounds would be the only stats any player couldve chased. During halftime of Sunday's All-Star Game, 45 members of the 75th Anniversary Team including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stood side by side on a circular stage in the middle of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Basketball, Team, School. the Lakers held a "Jerry West Night", and eleven-time NBA champion and perennial rival Bill Russell appeared and said: "Jerry, you are, in every sense of the word, truly a . Over the next summer he grew six more inches. But West, who had scored 38 points in a Game 4 win, had sprained his ankle and did not play at full strength the rest of the series. West is still regarded as one of the best pure scorers in NBA history. All rights reserved. [41] After the loss West was seen as the ultimate tragic hero: after the game, Bill Russell held his hand, and John Havlicek said: "I love you, Jerry". Jerome Alan West (Cheylan, 28 de maio de 1938) um ex-jogador de basquetebol norte-americano que atualmente exerce a funo de Conselheiro nos Clippers. He looks determined. [16] He was also named to be a member of the U.S. Pan American Games basketball team that won the gold medal. The Royals made Robertson with the No. The other definition is 'two way' player - one who can do everything offensively, and defensively. "Race; cold war; threat of nuclear war. "How much weightlifting did you do?" "Not a day goes by when I don't think about that Olympic experience.". Its only fitting he returned the favor. The Big O appeared on the Knuckleheads podcast to discuss his favorite players in league history. [15], West helped the Lakers improve from their previous 25-win season to 36 wins as they reached the 1961 NBA Playoffs. West won Schaus's trust and, alternating with Hundley, Selvy, and Leonard, played 35 minutes per game and established himself as the Lakers' second scoring option. Oscar Robertson vs Andrew Wiggins. On more than one occasion West had to be helped to the court before games in which he ultimately scored 30 or 40 points. The Big O at 6-5 was the first power guard, backing defenders down, never taking a 12-footer if a 10 was available, never a 10 if he could get an 8. Born: May 28, 1938 (84 years old) Nationality: United States. West was chosen four times to Oscar's none. Theres a reason it took well over 50 years for another player (Russell Westbrook) to average a triple-double over the course of a full season. Jerry West is a legendary Lakers guard. In some ways, the decision of who was better comes down to personal preferences on playing style do you prefer Robertson with his penchant for racking up triple-doubles or West with his silky smooth moves and shooting? In Game 6, Havlicek shredded the Lakers with 40 points, and after yet another Finals loss to Boston, West commented that the Lakers lost two games they should have won: "We gave them the first game, and we gave them the fifth. For the children's author, see, In the summer of 1996, West traded for shooting guard. In the 1969 Finals against Boston, West became the only member of a losing team to be named Finals MVP. Very rarely was I satisfied with how I played. Jerry West Chris Webber Oscar Robertson Mark Jackson. [23] Baylor once commented: "Rumors are safe with you, Tweety Bird. Both entered the league via the 1960 NBA Draft - Robertson was the No. West never thought he had been handed a burden, however. "Oscar was one of basketball's great leaders, and his life is one of basketball's great. Rain. 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