Oscar Robertson Royals Video

As we all know, Oscar started his NBA journey in 1960 after winning gold medal on Olympics in Rome. He got drafted by weak team from Cincinnati which still suffered after the tragic loss of Maurice Stokes. Robertson quickly adapted to profesional league and became one of the best players in the league in his rookie season. Just in the next season he carried Royals to their first playoffs apperiance since the loss of Stokes. He already astablished himself as the best offensive player in the league and became rolemodel for all guards in the league (even the great Jerry West admited so after retirement).

Oscar Robertson is regarded by NBA historists as one of the most complete players in sport history. He was huge guard at 6'4 and a half without the shoes and around 210-220 lbs. He used his size almost perfectly, as he pushed around even bigger forwards with ease down low. He was great rebounder, tough and physical defender but - the most important - also extremely skilled player. There is nothing in basketball Oscar couldn't do at great level. He anchored some of the best offenses of his time with great vision and ability to pass the ball in ideal time and place. He understood that basketball is a game of missmatches betetr than anyone. P&R maestro who didn't have peers until John Stockton came into the league. Passing is not the only thing he could do well though. His weird-looking jumpshot is one of the most lethal weapons in NBA history. People love talking about MJ and Kobe fadeaways, but Oscar wasn't any worse than them. His midrange game contained every single move possible - stepbacks, turnarounds, pull-ups, running shots. Moreover, his strength allowed him to attack the basket with almost LeBron-esque aggression. As he got older, he prefered to focus more on midrange shots than slashing though.

I know that there is a misconception that Big O didn't have left hand and could barely dribble. I suggest all doubters to watch more of his full games. Even in that short video you can see him using his weaker hand. His dribbling wasn't flashy but he played in an era where it was illegal to dribble like today players do. Besides, he could still back his man whenever he wanted, he also very rarely got the ball stripped from dribbling.

After 10 years in Royals without team success, he got traded to Bucks with young promising Lew Alcindor (later known as the GOAT of basketball). He won his only championship in Milwaukee but his best individual seasons were in Cincinnati. I didn't include Bucks footage because when most people think about Oscar, they think about old, past his best Big O with injury problems on Bucks jersey. As you can see, he was more explosive player earlier in his career and he wasn't any more mature as a player.

Enjoy the video and tell me whether you agree with the statement that Oscar is the most complete guard in NBA history.

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