photo courtesy of espn.com
Did you know that the playground was the most instrumental force in integrating the state of Indiana’s public schools?
That’s because the playgrounds of Indianapolis, aka Nap Town, gave birth to Oscar Robertson, quite possibly the greatest basketball player that ever lived.
Before all the Air Jordan heads start hollering, ponder this. MJ came of age in an era of technological revolution, benifitting from the amazing, serendipitous confluence of television satellite technology, the ascension of Nike, the explosion of ESPN and the advent of the global marketplace, becoming the world’s most recognizabe athlete. His undeniable genius was apparent for all, from Brooklyn to Beijing, to witness. In the post industrial information age, Jordan’s greatness and Madison Avenue ad campaigns for a plethora of multi-national corporations, like Quaker Oats’ Gatorade brand and McDonald’s, were instantaneously beamed around the globe.
The Big O did his thing in a different time where very few witnessed his phenomenal exploits. Robertson may have been better than MJ, but Chicago of the ’80s and ’90s was far different from Cincinnati and Milwaukee of the ’60s and early ’70s and the NBA had yet to attain it’s incredible worldwide appeal.
Peep the digits real quick. As a rookie, The Big O came out the box with 30.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists. In 1962, his second year in the league, he AVERAGED A TRIPLE DOUBLE with 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists, a feat that has never, before or since, been accomplished. (Pause, read that again and just let it marinate)
Magic had 138 career Triple Doubles. MJ had 28. The Big O notched 181!
photo courtesy of celebrity-link.com
Growing up dirt poor in Indianapolis, Robertson was a fixture at the playground known as the “Dust Bowl” in front of the Lockefield Gardens housing projects. When put off the asphalt by the old heads, he chilled on the side working on crossovers, dribbling with his weak hand and other drills. Eventually, the big boys could not keep him off the court.
After leading Crispus Attacks High School to its second consecutive state title in 1956, The Big O was so dominant that his play had consequences that extended far beyond hoops. Those state championships were broadcast on television statewide, and a lot of people, considering the passionate love affair with hoops in Indiana, were uneasy seeing an all-black school dominate like Robertson and his Attucks teammates did (they were 62-1 during their back-to-back title seasons).
The Indy public schools had, on paper, been de-segregated since the 1954 Supreme Court Brown V. Board of Education decision but black faces at white schools were few and far between. But after The Big O came along, white schools encouraged and welcomed a larger African-American representation in their student bodies.
From high school, to 2 Final Fours in 3 years in college, to a gold medal in the ‘60 Olympics, to a remarkable pro career, the Big O was like a G.P.S. in the days of horse and buggies, light years ahead of his time.
In his autobiography, The Big O - My Life, My Times, My Game, Robertson had this to say - “Throughout my adult life, I’ve been described as one of the most fundamentally sound players in the history of basketball. But so much of what I know I learned on the playground. I didn’t learn much basketball in high school, or even in college, but rather from playing outside in the park.”
The Playground is not the problem. It is the solution.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Teddy "Doowop" says:
A triple double for a season is just unreal. Cant deny those stats. I enjoyed Lebron’s comments the other night about playground ball as well.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:14 am
illest says:
he averaged it for his first three seasons which is more amazing.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:20 am
ali says:
the big o is one of those rare players that could cross the generational divide and still get busy in today’s game. as illest points out, it just wasn’t that one season in ‘62. check the body of work during his first 6 years -
1961 (rookie year) - 30.5 pts, 10.1 re’s, 9.7 dimes
1962 - 30.8 pts, 12.5 re’s, 11.5 dimes
1963 - 28.3 pts, 10.4 re’s, 9.5 dimes
1964 - 31.4 pts, 9.9 re’s, 11.0 dimes
1965 - 30.4 pts, 9.0 re’s, 11.5 dimes
1966 - 31.3 pts, 7.7 re’s, 11.1 dimes
That’s a 6 year average of 30.5 pts, 9.9 re’s and 10.7 dimes per game.
And assists, back then, were not awarded with the frequency that they are today. The Big O was incredible!!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
FM says:
yeah i remember reading an interview with mr robertson about 10 years ago and on the subject of assists he said something along the lines of driving and dishing the ball to the wing was NOT considered an assist. the pass had to go towards the basket, and the scorer couldn’t dribble several times either. a famous old skool cat once derisively labeled dimes under the newer criteria ‘john stockton assists’, i forget who that was though
April 29th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
illest says:
its like blocks and steals. im sure wilt and russell would of averaged triple doubles if blocks were counted back then. its a shame that people forget the big o.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
ali says:
yeah, it’s a shame that the young generation doesn’t know about oscar, wilt, bill russell and the greats before the days of espn highlights. but go to any barbershop where old heads get together to talk sports and mention the big O.
it’s like deacon jones in football, illest. if they counted sacks back in his day, not so sure reggie white would be considered the man.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
illest says:
Very true about deacon jones, ali.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
dag, i just got goose bumps reading his story. great stuff, ali. he may be the best all-around fundamentally sound player ever, but i would say that he had weird form on his jumper. he cocked the ball back far so his arm was never in the pure-form L shape lined up with the knee, and his follow through was similar to magic johnson’s in that the didn’t break their wrist but rather used the fingers from the knuckle on to create rotation on their follow-through. i’m not knocking the Big O at all. my form ain’t perfect either. important thing is that the ball goes in!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
ali says:
yeah bob. but you know we all came across that awkward dude on the playground that just got buckets, even with the doo-doo form.
jamaal wilkes’ form was as unconventional as they come, but he got bizmark!
people always talk about magic’s best game his rookie year in ‘80. He got 42 points, 15 re’s and 7 assists in game 6, in philly, of the finals when kareem was hurt and the lakers took the chip. people forget that jamaal wilkes dropped 37 in that joint.
everybody can’t look as clean as mark price when letting the jimmy fly. now that was one nice white boy.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Jeremy Ripley says:
Lovin’ these posts Ali!
Read Oscar’s autobigraphy when it came out, and I took note of his exploits on the Dustbowl…Shouts to Crispus Attucks, the first fatality in the Revolutionary War…