Top 100 NBA Players: #16

Oscar Robertson

(Kalb: #8, Simmons: #9, BBR: #3)

I know what you're thinking. How can Oscar Robertson be ranked below the top 10? He's the only person in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, and he nearly did it four other times. Let me explain the factors that dropped the Big O from his usual spot in the top 10 of any other overall ranking you've probably ever seen.

First of all, let's consider his triple-double season. While I don't want to take anything away from him for such an amazing accomplishment, the fact is that his performance was a little inflated. The 1960's in general were an era of over-the-top stats, and 1962 in particular was the worst. That season, besides Oscar's huge numbers, we also saw Walt Bellamy win the Rookie of the Year with 31.6 points and 19.0 rebounds per game, and some guy named Wilt averaged over 50 points and 25 rebounds per game. It wasn't just a collision of great players that caused this unmatched season, it was a much higher pace of play which jacked up all of the statistics.

When you compare 1962 with 2012, you'll notice some major differences. The scoring average 50 years ago was 25% higher than it is today, the rebounding average was 69% higher, and the assist average was 16% higher, even in an era where they weren't given out as freely. The top 4 scoring seasons in history were Oscar's four best years, and the top 13 single season rebounding averages were all recorded by players in the 1960's. If you were to take Oscar's stats from that season and make them correspond to today's pace, here's the difference you would see:

Robertson 1962 (actual) - 30.8 pts, 12.5 reb, 11.4 ast
Robertson 1962 (adjusted) - 24.6 pts, 7.4 reb, 9.8 ast

Like I said, I am not saying that Oscar was not an incredible player, because even those numbers would put him among the top 3 players in the league today. Not only that, but I also believe that his skills would translate well to today's game, so he likely would be a potential MVP today if he weren't over 70 years old.

Now that his amazing stats have been somewhat put into perspective, let's look at another major determiner of greatness - winning when it matters. While Robertson was at his peak in Cincinnati, he led them as far as the Conference Finals twice, and failed to make the playoffs in 4 other seasons. When he finally did win a championship, with Milwaukee in 1971, it was with Kareem leading the way and Oscar setting him up. He did make a return trip to the Finals in his final season, 1974, where they lost to the Celtics in 7 games.

One final note about Robertson. He played in an era that was very different from today. There were numerous times during his college and pro career when he wasn't allowed to stay in the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants as teammates because of the color of his skin. The fact that he excelled amidst the turmoil of segregation is a testament to his greatness. It's too bad that he wasn't able to play in a day where he was treated the same way off the court as he was on the court.

Oscar Robertson was never the best player on an NBA champion or runner-up, while Dirk Nowitzki has achieved both in his career. Dirk has been able to maintain a high level of play for longer than Oscar, but Robertson's greatness in his first five seasons are still enough to put him ahead of the big German on the all-time list.