Make no mistake about it: the Big O stands for more than a quality national tire shop chain. The Big O stands for Oscar Robertson, one of the greatest players ever in the history of the NBA. How great was he back in the day? For an entire season, he averaged a triple-double. As a big guard, he could shoot, pass it off, rebound, and play defense.
More importantly, he shined at a time when showboating was discouraged. He played hard on both ends of the court all the time. He was Bill Russell and John Havlicek, but without the championship banners. Apart from Jerry Lucas, the Royals were not loaded with other superstar talent. Robertson only played with true greatness at the tail end of his career, while with the Milwaukee Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Lew Alcindor.
He spent his energy on the court, not in the courts. He worked out in the gyms, not the nightclubs. He was a man's man, but didn't beat his chest or have an entourage of leeches.
The Big O remains a great representative of the Golden Age of the NBA. One can only wonder what he really thinks of the pampered stars of today's league, where traveling is almost never called in the service of spectacular drives to the hoop and slam dunks. Since he's a true gentleman, the public will probably never know.
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