14 minutes of The Big O! O as in the Only player to average a triple-double for a whole season. We aren’t talking Mark Jackson triple-doubles either; his apples during the 1961-62 season were 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists!
If that wasn’t impressive enough, Oscar actually averaged a cumulative triple-double over his first five NBA seasons, which included rookie averages of 30.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 9.7 assists!
During the 62/63 season, he averaged 31.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 11.4 assists!
If those mind-blowing stats weren’t enough to show how great the former MVP and Champion was, here’s some praise from Satch Sanders and Jerry West.
Celtic Satch Sanders: “Everybody talks about Michael. Michael certainly had a lot of style. But if it’s flat-out ass-kicking, Oscar was a very potent weapon.”
Jerry West: “It took me five or six years (in the NBA) to become an accomplished player. But from the first game Oscar played, he looked like he’d been in the league for 10 years. There was nobody like him.”
West is right. And every player who ever signed a lucrative contract after him should thank him, because his landmark 6-year-long lawsuit against the NBA in the 70s led to the free agency rules the league now uses. Fun fact: David Stern was lead counsel for the NBA in the Robertson litigation.