[22], Initially, West felt odd in his new environment. Simple mathematics tells us that there are 144 cards contained within the twenty-four packs of six, resulting in the probability of two examples of each member of the set's full roster. Oscar Robertson vs Lenny Wilkens. West returned, however, and helped make history. It is an honor to know him and to have competed against him. The Americans arrived in Italy in 1960 with 28 wins in as many games at the Olympics. But it is less a function of disrespect than of youth. [12] In Game 4, the guard scored 37 points and 18 assists, and the Lakers won. Although injured captain Elgin Baylor ended his career, the Lakers had a season for the ages. I will say that Oscar fits the 'all around' definition better - he was *almost* as good at scoring as Jerry although not quite matching up to West's peak scoring abilities, he was a better rebounder and also a better passer (both by . [36] In Game 5, an injured West scored 35points, but Boston won by threepoints. Amazon.com: Collision Course: The Basketball Lives of Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson and the Fall of the Cincinnati Royals: 9781620062104: Cook, . Inside" (the low-post scorer, Baylor) and "Mr. Outside" (the long-distance shooter, West). Jerry West is one of the most revered players in NBA history. This also marked the first of three straight seasons leading the NBA in assists, with Robertson putting up at least 11.0 assists per game each year, including a career-high 11.5 in 1964-1965. From college to the pros, Robertson and West shared a unique bond and reverence. 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!. TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unclesmokeking?_t=8XgGb5ev7yo&_r=1--All clips are property of the NBA. Meanwhile, as Robertson was dominating night in and night out in Cincinnati, West exploded in his second NBA season, averaging 30.8 points (on 44.5% shooting), a career-high 7.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game in 1961-1962, which resulted in the first of 10 First Team All-NBA selections. "There's all the publicity today for a 19-year-old player who might not be that good a player. Oscar Robertson vs Derrick White. West won Schaus's trust and, alternating with Hundley, Selvy, and Leonard, played 35 minutes per game and established himself as the Lakers' second scoring option. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically. [16] He was also named to be a member of the U.S. Pan American Games basketball team that won the gold medal. "There are a lot of bad teams," he said. He averaged 24.8points per game and 13.3rebounds. The team had posted a 25-50 record in its last season in Minneapolis. Im not willing to sacrifice my standards, West told the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner when he retired. "I think any time an athlete gets an opportunity to play for your country, he should accept it," he said. [12] They have three sons, David, Mark and Michael. The Big O's best statistical season came in 1961-62 when he averaged a . Theyre like salesmen I mean, and theyre selling the 97 game., Theyre not going to be selling the 56 All-Star game, or the 57 All-Star game. Maybe that's what a team is all about. Jerome Alan West (Cheylan, 28 de maio de 1938) um ex-jogador de basquetebol norte-americano que atualmente exerce a funo de Conselheiro nos Clippers. At such a time, Oscar Robertson set the game afire with his spate of triple-doubles for the Cincinnati Royals. Copyright FIBA All rights reserved. David Astramskas 32,332 November 24, 2015 No Comments oscar robertson. His ferocity rarely, if ever, rubbed players, coaches or fans the wrong way. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Working as a player-scout for three years, West was named general manager of the Lakers before the 198283 NBA season. His only outlet was a basketball hoop nailed to a storage shed outside a neighbors house. I felt I was deceived. Fans' memories have dimmed of Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. Winning bid: US $23.50 [ 10 bids] Shipping: $3.99 Standard . Very rarely was I satisfied with how I played. This obsessive quest for perfection was a constant during Wests playing years, and it continued in his later roles as coach and general manager of the Lakers and in similar front-office roles he held with the Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers. Wilt Chamberlain wasnt out of place when he said the media is diluting the modern game of basketball. Until he got it right, the ball would frequently hit and bruise his face. In the playoffs he kept up his torrid scoring pace, averaging 34.2 ppg over 14 contests. At the tail ends of their careers. Paolo Banchero leads the way as the Kia Rookie of the Year chase begins to head for the finish line. The Minneapolis Lakers chose West with the second overall pick . [81] They have two sons, Ryan and Jonnie. You still have to shoot, rebound, pass and play defense," said Robertson, who was honored with West at The Q on Thursday in the 50th anniversary year of their Olympic basketball triumph for the USA in 1960 in Rome. Tackling the Biggest Head-to-Head Sports Debates. His 28.7 points per game eclipsed the 25.4 by Baylor, who stated that he suffered from knee problems. [12] Further awards were All-American, Southern Conference Tournament MVP and Southern Conference Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year. As the NBA celebrates it's 75th Anniversary Season, get to know dozens of star players who helped make the NBA what it is today. After helping the Golden State Warriors win the championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers, on June 14, 2017, West announced that he would go to the Los Angeles Clippers as an executive board member and consultant. In the 1969 Finals against Boston, West became the only member of a losing team to be named Finals MVP. Gail Goodrich's all-around play from the backcourt made him a perennial All-Star and, eventually, an NBA champion. But his all-around excellence was unprecedented for a guard. [58] In the 197677 season, West became coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas recalls the conversation quite well. In overtime, West, however, sprained his left hand and missed all five of his shots, and the Knicks won 111108. . [40] Game 4 saw Celtics guard Sam Jones hit an off-balance buzzer beater to tie the series,[41] but in Game 5, the Lakers struck back and won by 13points; however, they suffered a major blow when West who scored 39points and by far led all players in scoring during the entire series lunged for a meaningless late-game ball and seriously pulled his hamstring: it was immediately visible that the injury would not heal until the end of the series. "Certain players seem to be able to do things in a certain part of the game that they might not be able to do earlier," said West. Known as "The Logo", Jerry West's legendary career ended with him unquestionably among the sport's all-time greats. [29], In the following 196465 NBA season, West averaged 31.0 points (at the time, a career-high), only surpassed by perennial scoring champion Wilt Chamberlain. During halftime of Sunday's All-Star Game, 45 members of the 75th Anniversary Team including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stood side by side on a circular stage in the middle of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Professional career Los Angeles Lakers (1960 . [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. Shaver emphasized the importance of conditioning and defense, which were lessons that the teenager appreciated. [50][51] West conceded that he had played a terrible series, and credited the team for the success. But West, who had scored 38 points in a Game 4 win, had sprained his ankle and did not play at full strength the rest of the series. West ganhou notoriedade por ter servido de inspirao para o desenho do logotipo da NBA, o qual baseado na imagem de uma jogada de Jerry West. He left the game holding records for career postseason scoring and the highest average in a playoff series. They were also both on the gold medal winning team at the 1959 Pan American Games. 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. Wilt Chamberlain broke it down in the following fashion: Why would someone doing a game for lets say NBC do nothing but applaud the players and praise who they are? Every athlete says that. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. [15] After ending the regular season with 49 wins, L.A. played the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the 1965 NBA Playoffs, but then team captain Baylor suffered a career-threatening knee injury. In addition to their regular season performances, Robertson and West were both consistent presences in the postseason and led their teams admirably for a number of years. His first nickname, Zeke from Cabin Creek, was actually based on faulty information. And knowing what that looked like, the Logo wanted to surpass him. Jerry West. As a rookie, West would make the first of 14 straight All-Star teams by averaging 17.6 points (41.9% shooting), 7.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. The game, which was the Lakers' first home game of . The 1960 US Olympic team was one of the great ones, as good as any prior to the Dream Team in 1992. Estimated PSA 8 Value: $3,500. In the Olympic basketball tournament, the USA definitely conquered Rome. Although West enjoyed great individual success during his prime, the teams record is a study in frustration unbelievable frustration is how West described it to the Los Angeles Times Magazine. In 1961-62, West established himself as a deadly scoring threat and averaged 30.8 ppg, marking the first of four seasons in which he 30 ppg or more. "When we played, [the NBA] was a minor league acting like a pro league. West was named the NBA Executive of the Year for 1995 after the Lakers posted their best record in four seasons. The answer is "yes," according to The Ringer's Bill Simmons. On October 19th in 1960, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson made their NBA debut for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cincinnati Royals respectively. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about that Olympic experience.". 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. With an all-around game that rivaled Oscar Robertson's, West added six assists and six rebounds per game and excellent defense in the backcourt that produced a number of steals each game. I played on an all-black high school team and we didn't want people saying that we were clowns. [8], West made himself available for the 1960 NBA draft, and he was drafted with the second overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers, shortly before the team relocated to Los Angeles. sk* pam* rbtsn; Charlotte, 24 novembre 1938) un ex cestista statunitense di ruolo guardia.. Soprannominato The Big O, disput 14 campionati NBA con le maglie dei Cincinnati Royals e dei Milwaukee Bucks, vincendo con questi ultimi il titolo nel 1971.Nel 1962 fu il primo giocatore nella storia dell'NBA a concludere una stagione con una tripla . The NBA described West as "obsessive perfectionism, unabashed confidence, and an uncompromising will to win a level of intensity so high it could melt lead". To get the center, the Lakers traded West's backcourt partner Archie Clark, starting center Darrall Imhoff and backup forward Jerry Chambers to Philadelphia. He thought of the broken noses, the broken hands, the pulled muscles and the lost championships. [45] However, more frustration awaited West in Game 5, when Reed pulled his thigh muscle and seemed out for the series; instead of capitalizing on a double-digit lead and reeling off an easy win, the Lakers committed 19 second-half turnovers, and the two main scorers Chamberlain and West shot the ball only three and two times, respectively, in the entire second half and lost 107100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history. However, he started at West Virginia, getting 13 rebounds and 25 points for each game. It seems that tons of viewers from certain generations uniformly avoid the contemporary NBA in a conscious fashion. He remained a . Oscar Robertson. In 1969, he became the only player to win Finals MVP on the losing team. stories. "None. There will never be another player like the 'Big Dipper', who changed the game with his strength, athleticism and skill. West and Oscar Robertson co-captained the U.S. men's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics. High 49F. Personally, I value all-around players who can do everything on the court shoot, rebound, pass and as such, though West was probably a better scorer and defender, I prefer Robertson with his historically dynamic all-around game and ability to dominate in all aspects. You pass them on, but nobody can understand you. As a member of the Bucks in 1970-1971, Robertson finally broke through as Milwaukee swept the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals for his only NBA title; Robertson led the playoffs in assists that season (8.9 assists per game) to go along with 18.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. 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