As a 6-foot senior, West became the first prep player in state history to score 900 points in a season, averaging 32.2 points. [38] There was an altercation in which Chamberlain was about to punch Van Breda Kolff before Baylor had intervened. The team reached the NCAA championship game in 1959 but lost to the University of California. [68] [69][70], On December 17, 2020, it was reported that West and the LA Clippers were under investigation by the NBA following a lawsuit filed by John Wilkes against the LA Clippers over the recruitment of Kawhi Leonard to the team. West completely immersed himself in practice, often neglecting to eat. No portion of FIBA.basketball may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated in any form.By accessing FIBA.basketball pages, you agree to abide by FIBA.basketball terms and conditions. Oscar Robertson. You pass them on, but nobody can understand you. 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. Now 36 years old, the veteran guard averaged 20.3points, 3.7rebounds and 6.6assists per game. Combine a deadly jump shot, tenacious defense, obsessive perfectionism, unabashed confidence, and an uncompromising will to win, and youve got Jerry West, one of the greatest guards in NBA history. Hence, every college game, every practice and every summer workout by 1958 became about the game within the game: winning at all costs, but also showing the world he could . For the children's author, see, In the summer of 1996, West traded for shooting guard. Steals and blocks came into official book-keeping during the mid-70s. It averaged a whopping 101.9 points a contest. "Who else would you want to take it but Kobe?" West holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3. West said, turning to a chuckling Robertson. [61] At age 69, West retired as a Grizzlies general manager in 2007 and turned over managing duties to Chris Wallace.[64]. [53][54], The 197374 NBA season was to be West's last as a player. It wasn't a 3-pointer, but Jerry West's 60-foot prayer was answered in Game 2 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Fittingly, Thomas remembered the Big O agreeing with Wests assessment. [20] In March 2008, ESPN voted West the third greatest shooting guard of all time. [15] He was honored again with several awards: a call-up to the All-American selection, and being voted Southern Conference MVP. Frazier later commented: "The man's crazy. "[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. [12] Further awards were All-American, Southern Conference Tournament MVP and Southern Conference Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year. The dirt-covered court became his domain. During his first year, he was benched by his coach Duke Shaver due to his lack of height. Oscar Robertson was the only college player to finish the March Madness career with four triple-doubles. 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. [22], In the 196566 NBA season, West averaged a career-best 31.3points, along with 7.1rebounds and 6.1assists per game. Years after a game in which he hit 16 of 17 shots from the field, sank all 12 free throw attempts, and notched 12 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 blocked shots, West told the National Sports Daily, Defensively, from a team standpoint, I didnt feel I played very well. However, West had also injured his right hand and received several manual injections,[43] and Reed famously hobbled up court before Game 7: the Knicks center scored the first four points, and inspired his team to one of the most famous playoff upsets of all time. 26 Feb 2023 06:03:55 [20] His college coach was also hired to coach the Lakers. The 1972-73 Lakers lost to the Knicks in The Finals while in 1973-74, a pulled groin limited West to 31 regular-season contests and only one playoff game. High 49F. He said at the ceremony that athletes should not pass up a chance to represent their homeland. 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. [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. West averaged 27.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists and was again NBA All-Star and All-NBA First-Team;[15] however, he played in only 55 regular-season games, missing the last seven weeks due to a hamstring injury. After his playing career ended, West took over as head coach of the Lakers for three years. He made an NBA record 840 free throws, and earned yet another pair of All-Star Team and All-NBA First Team nominations. West was named the NBA Executive of the Year for 1995 after the Lakers posted their best record in four seasons. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. [39], In the 1969 NBA Playoffs, the 55-win Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks and the San Francisco Warriors, setting up the sixth finals series versus Boston in eight years. He remained a . Former NBA Veteran JJ Redick made controversial comments calling NBA Legends Firemen and Plumbers. Now, why is it that way? West continued to propel the Lakers to championship contender status by trading Divac for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant (1996), by signing free agent center Shaquille O'Neal (also 1996), and by signing six-time NBA champion Phil Jackson as a coach (1999). FGA, TRB, AST, PF, GS over 99% complete back to 1975-76. Kareem said Oscar was better than Magic. Said Jerry West, a fellow Hall of Famer and Warriors . In a generation defined mostly by big men, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson managed to stand out from the crop. ", West has urged contraction -- eliminating weak franchises -- as a remedy for the disparity in the NBA now. "I had no tools to get better other than my own hard work," West said. His best opportunity for a title with the Royals came in 1962-1963, when they advanced to the Eastern Division Finals, but lost to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in seven games despite the Big Os 31.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game in the postseason. Jerry West (L) and Oscar Robertson. [48] West himself contributed with 25.8points and led the league with a career-high 9.7assists per game. Copyright FIBA All rights reserved. He would sit by himself and stare into space. [23] Baylor once commented: "Rumors are safe with you, Tweety Bird. West was born into a poor household in Chelyan, West Virginia. West departed from the Lakers at the end of the 1999-2000 season. [78] On June 1, 2019, President Donald Trump announced West would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Some of these triple-doubles that Jerry West or Oscar Robertson or Elgin Baylor had, they would think they had the worst day in the world!. West remained as uptight in the front office as he had been on the court. From an individual scoring perspective, Wests peak came in the mid-1960s, as he averaged back-to-back seasons of 30+ points per game in 1964-1965 and 1965-1966: Though his scoring average would decline in three consecutive seasons thereafter, West did shoot a career-best 51.4% in 1967-1968 to the tune of 26.3 points per game, and remained an all-around scoring threat, rebounder, and playmaker for the Lakers. With Elgin Baylor (Mr. [73] In 1979, West was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Lakers retired his No. [59], After his coaching stint, West worked as a scout for three years before becoming general manager of the Lakers before the 198283 seasons. They gotta keep people watching, so theyre gonna say wonderful things about these teams, and wonderful things about players., Wilton Norman Chamberlain speaks on how the @NBA and other media outlets market its players and what kind of tactics they use. The USA had been the only country to win the gold medal since basketball was introduced at the Summer Games in Berlin, in 1936. Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn bestowed the nickname. West's son, Jonnie, also played college basketball for West Virginia. [64] West himself won his second NBA Executive of the Year Award in the same year. The Minneapolis Lakers chose West with the second overall pick . (Going into the 1963-64 season, Baylor was 28, West 25, Robertson 24, Lucas 23.) During that time, West was the better scorer (27.0 to 25.7), but Robertson grabbed more rebounds (7.5 to 5.8) and averaged more assists (9.5 to 6.7) and also had slightly better shooting percentages. "I think the thing I most remember is that we won so easily ". Before the 1970-1971, Robertson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk, where he teamed up with center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to form a potent duo. However, he started at West Virginia, getting 13 rebounds and 25 points for each game. Oscar Robertson vs Derrick White. To hear Jerry West and to see Jerry West talk about Oscar Robertson Ill never forget it. Gail Goodrich's all-around play from the backcourt made him a perennial All-Star and, eventually, an NBA champion. The other definition is 'two way' player - one who can do everything offensively, and defensively. Oscar Palmer Robertson (pron. Plus, he scored 56 points in just one game, which is . Your email address will not be published. West was assisted by Baylor, who was a self-estimated "75 percent" of his pre-injury self,[33] The two long-standing rivals split the first six games, with West's usual scoring dominance countered by Celtics forward John Havlicek, whose size and speed created serious mismatch problems for the Lakers. The Lakers had risen from third place in the division to first since Wests arrival, posting a 54-26 record and in the playoffs, West upped his scoring average to 31.5 ppg. In 1969, as in 1962, the Lakers led Boston after five games only to drop the last two contests. Neither Chamberlain's 50 point, 25.7 rebound average nor Oscar's triple-double average swayed the media from such a view. Rain. /VCG. 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 theOlympic Games in Rome are crystal clear. Not blessed with great size, strength, or dribbling ability, West made up for these deficiencies with pure hustle and an apparent lack of regard for his body. He scored 19 points in the second half, leading WVU to an upset victory. The teams split the first two games, and at the end of Game 3 in Los Angeles, West tied the game at 115. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically. Luckily, both legends got their just due. Tackling the Biggest Head-to-Head Sports Debates. In overtime, West, however, sprained his left hand and missed all five of his shots, and the Knicks won 111108. The Americans arrived in Italy in 1960 with 28 wins in as many games at the Olympics. Overall, both Robertson and West played 14 NBA seasons from 1960-1974, with Robertson having a 100+ games played advantage due to better health. "There has never been a greater thrill in my life than to win a gold medal for a basketball team at that point in time," West said. 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). "Fans believe what people tell them.". As a player with the Cincinnati (Ohio) Royals of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1961-62, he averaged . [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". The Lakers swept the Bulls and beat the Bucks in six games to reach The Finals. [8] These performances soon earned West his first of fourteen NBA All-Star Game call-ups. They accomplished their mission of beating the USSR, too, winning 81-57. At halftime of Sunday's NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, the league honored its . While his famous triple-double season would come a year later, Robertson got off to a fast start right out of the gate during his 1960-61 rookie season in which he . He led Los Angeles into the playoffs each year and earned a Western Conference Finals berth once. Those two players formed the nucleus of three consecutive championship teams beginning with capturing the 2000 NBA Finals. "In my era, they were afraid to foul you then, because the officials were right on top of every play.". 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. [41] In Game 3, Russell opted to double-team West, and the guard's exhaustion began to show: West twice asked to be subbed for longer periods, and both times the Lakers fell back by double digits and finally lost by sixpoints. [38] In return, the center blasted Van Breda Kolff as "the dumbest and worst coach ever". On the flipside, West was selected more frequently for All-Star (14x to 12x), All-NBA (12x to 11x), and All-Defensive (5x to none) Teams, though Robertson does have the one MVP to his name. Jerry West is one of the most revered players in NBA history. David Astramskas 32,332 November 24, 2015 No Comments oscar robertson. [31] However, in the 1965 NBA Finals, the Celtics easily beat the short-handed Lakers, 41. Entering the same 1960 NBA Draft as Robertson, West was selected right after Robertson with the second overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers, who soon relocated to California and became the Los Angeles Lakers. Oscar Robertson vs Lenny Wilkens. His ferocity rarely, if ever, rubbed players, coaches or fans the wrong way. The Royals made Robertson with the No. It sounds like trash talk before its time, but West did not christen himself. Your inbox approves The power couples & . 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 . But I could've, and I knew I could've. He thinks it's going in! Although both ranked among the top four leading scorers in history when they retired, neither man ever won an MVP. Indeed, The Logo is still the only player to win Finals MVP as a member of the losing team. Many players have been tagged with the nickname Mr. West was chosen four times to Oscar's none. He thought of the broken noses, the broken hands, the pulled muscles and the lost championships. On more than one occasion West had to be helped to the court before games in which he ultimately scored 30 or 40 points. And also, West can still feel the sensation of receiving his gold medal. In 1980, West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and named to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team. [16] The Mountaineers went 262 that year, ending the season with a loss to Manhattan College in postseason tournament play. [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. Clutch". "They have everything it takes to win a championship. Oscar Robertson weighs in as Russell Westbrook attempts to join the Big O's one-man club. Only Jordan had a higher career scoring average in the playoffs, and only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tallied more career points in the postseason. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. "We stayed in dorms. They were also both on the gold medal winning team at the 1959 Pan American Games. They needed all five games to put away the Detroit Pistons but then lost to the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, losing the final game 105103. Top four leading scorers in history when they retired, neither man ever won an MVP 3.7rebounds 6.6assists! 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O agreeing with Wests assessment Bulls and beat the Bucks in six games to reach Finals..., leading WVU to an upset victory the NBA now Basketball Hall of Fame and named the... Games in which he ultimately scored 30 or 40 points `` Fans believe what tell. Still feel the sensation of receiving his gold medal ] There was an in! Selves, and only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tallied more career points in just one game, is.
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