How good was the Big O?

[Shade8780]

I've never seen him play, but from what I heard of him, I thought he'd be on the ISH top 10 list. He's #5 all time on the SLAM 500 and is #10 ahead of Hakeem and Shaq on Bill Simmons' list. How good was he, and is he a top 10 player of all time?

[CavaliersFTW]

Really freakin good, old timers still debate whether it's he, or MJ as best all-around player ever. Kareem thinks he's better than Magic, and he played with both.

[imdaman99]

I listen to a sports radio host that swears he belongs in the top 5 or at worst top 10.

He's way before my time, but I imagine he was elite with those stats.

[CavaliersFTW]

some sample clips for an upcoming documentary/highlight i'm putting together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjO3hZKgdLc

[LoneyROY7]

Solid player.

[fpliii]

I listen to a sports radio host that swears he belongs in the top 5 or at worst top 10.

He's way before my time, but I imagine he was elite with those stats.
Francesa? :D

[pudman13]

You know how it's hard to assess just how good tim Duncan is? Same with Oscar. He just made everything look so easy that it almost looks like he's doing nothing impressive.

It's sad that there isn't more film of him, especially early in his career when he played more physical, but what there is shows him to be as fundamentally sound as anyone who ever played the game.

[CavaliersFTW]

You know how it's hard to assess just how good tim Duncan is? Same with Oscar. He just made everything look so easy that it almost looks like he's doing nothing impressive.

It's sad that there isn't more film of him, especially early in his career when he played more physical, but what there is shows him to be as fundamentally sound as anyone who ever played the game.
Soon I'll have a bunch of film of him out there

[Kvnzhangyay]

Very very very good. It's rather weird though, whenever I ask older people (60-70 year olds) about how good Oscar Robertson was they say he played with less athletic people so its impossible to gauge, but whenever I talk about him with ~20 year olds who watch film on him they say Oscar is arguably the GOAT :confusedshrug:

[played0ut]

Kareem thinks he's better than MJ and Lebron.

[quote=Kareem]
LeBron is awesome, MJ was awesome

[BigTicket]

The reason Oscar gets ranked outside the top 10 is that he never lead his team to a ring, or even to the finals for that matter. He did win in Milwaukee, but that was Kareem's team.

It may well be that he simply didn't have enough help, and he was up against Russell's Celtics ...

So he might be top 10 as an individual player, but he's nowhere near top 10 in results.

[CavaliersFTW]

Very very very good. It's rather weird though, whenever I ask older people (60-70 year olds) about how good Oscar Robertson was they say he played with less athletic people so its impossible to gauge, but whenever I talk about him with ~20 year olds who watch film on him they say Oscar is arguably the GOAT :confusedshrug:
nah you've got it backwards

[CavaliersFTW]

The reason Oscar gets ranked outside the top 10 is that he never lead his team to a ring, or even to the finals for that matter. He did win in Milwaukee, but that was Kareem's team.

It may well be that he simply didn't have enough help, and he was up against Russell's Celtics ...

So he might be top 10 as an individual player, but he's nowhere near top 10 in results.
No, that was Oscar's team. Kareem was the gunner scoring the lions share of points, but still not the verbal/tenured leader. That role on the team was definitely held by Oscar.

[BigTicket]

No, that was Oscar's team. Kareem was the gunner scoring the lions share of points, but still not the verbal/tenured leader. That role on the team was definitely held by Oscar.

Kareem was the league MVP that year ...

[CavaliersFTW]

Kareem was the league MVP that year ...
But he wasn't the leader of the team - it is possible to be one and not the other

[BigTicket]

But he wasn't the leader of the team - it is possible to be one and not the other

I don't care if he did some talking, Kareem was the one who dominated on the court.

[JellyBean]

I've never seen him play, but from what I heard of him, I thought he'd be on the ISH top 10 list. He's #5 all time on the SLAM 500 and is #10 ahead of Hakeem and Shaq on Bill Simmons' list. How good was he, and is he a top 10 player of all time?


When it comes to the old-timers of the NBA, I have to turn to my father and get insight on the greats of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. I have been a fan of the NBA from 1977-until I die. But anyway, talking with my dad, Oscar was just a really all-around great player. Oscar could defend the teams best player. Oscar could score, rebound, and pass. Oscar was hard to guard because he was stronger than most guards in that era. He could post up smaller guards, quicker than the forwards or post players who tried to guard him, and he had a really good feel for the game. Is Oscar among the top 10 players of all time? I don't have him on my list of 10 greatest players in NBA history. But my dad does, so do a lot of old-timers. Of course they have Kareem as the GOAT.

[CavaliersFTW]

I don't care if he did some talking, Kareem was the one who dominated on the court.
Oscar also ran the offense... The ball was in his hands more than Kareem's, he was the guy deciding how often to even give Kareem (and everyone else) the ball. He wasn't just doing "some talking". He was the floor General, and team captain. Yes Kareem was the MVP, but watch the documentary on that team, it's on Phila's youtube channel, Oscar was running that team.

[SuperPippen]

As has been stated repeatedly, Oscar was really really freakin' good. Probably the player with the GOAT individual perimeter talent until MJ came along. (Although I must state that I think Jerry West ultimately proved himself to be an even greater player).


If Robertson played today, I think he'd be like a richer man's version of prime Jason Kidd. A better shooter, more athletic, and even bigger than Kidd was. He'd be a top 3 player in the league without a doubt.

[knickswoman]

He was good but attitude matters more. As Jordan said 10% of this game is physical, 90% mental. So who cares about his skills if he wasn't a team player. That's why he was considered a cancer and a loser. That's why im not a fan of bran. Hes just another Oscar. Yhat's why he cheated coz he knows hes not going to win with that style.