Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Clinic

Oscar Robertson (The Big O) is one of the most enduringly popular and respected athletes of the 20th century. He has also distinguished himself as a labor leader, an entrepreneur and a community activist.

Generally considered the greatest all-around player in basketball history, The Big O remains an international ambassador for the game more than 25 years after his retirement. He has been an all-time all-star at every level through high school, college, the Olympics and the National Basketball Association, which named him one of its 50 greatest players of all time. He is a member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mr. Robertson served as President of the NBA Players Association from 1963-74. Putting his own career on the line, he filed suit on behalf of the NBPA in 1970 to halt a merger with the American Basketball Association until free agency issues could be resolved. The “Oscar Robertson Rule,” enacted six years later as the result of a legal settlement with the NBA, paved the way for free agency and the lucrative salaries enjoyed by many of today’s players. The Big O is now immediate past president of the Retired NBA Players Association.

Born November 24, 1938 in Charlotte, Tennessee, and raised in Indianapolis, Oscar Robertson learned to play basketball on the dirt courts of the inner city and refined his game through hours of individual practice. He first attracted national attention at Crispus Attucks High School, where he led his team to a 45-game winning streak, two consecutive Indiana state championships and a national championship. Attucks was the first African-American school and the first Indianapolis school to win the Indiana state crown, and the first African-American school to win a national championship.

At University of Cincinnati, where he became known as The Big O, he twice led the Bearcats to the Final Four. He was a three-time first team All-American, and the first player to lead the NCAA in scoring three straight years or to win National College Player of the Year honors three times. (In 1998, the U.S. Basketball Writers renamed their annual Player of the Year Award The Oscar Robertson Trophy.) Following graduation in 1960 with a B.S. degree in Business, he co-captained the undefeated 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medalist team, often considered the greatest basketball team ever put together.

During his 14-year NBA career—ten with the Cincinnati Royals and four with the Milwaukee Bucks—The Big O led his teams to 10 playoff appearances including an NBA championship with the Bucks in 1971. He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1961 and Most Valuable Player in 1964. He was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was voted Most Valuable Player in three All-Star games. In 1961-62, he became the only player in NBA history ever to average a “triple double:” double figures in scoring, rebounding and assists for an entire season. He led the league in free throw percentage twice and assists six times. His career record of 9,887 assists stood for 17 years and his 26,710 points and 25.7 points per game average rank him seventh on the list of all-time NBA scorers.

Since his retirement, Mr. Robertson has been active as a broadcaster, author and entrepreneur. One of the nation’s leading small business owners, he is President of Cincinnati-based Orchem, Inc., Orflex, Ltd., and Orpack-Stone Corporation, and also has interests in banking, real estate, document services and media. He is the author and publisher of “The Art of Basketball,” a guide to fundamental skills development for boys and girls of all ages. Throughout his career, he has taught or mentored hundreds of youngsters on his own and through various youth organizations.

Mr. Robertson is involved in numerous charitable and community activities, including the NBA Legends Foundation, NAACP, American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, the Salvation Army, HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal), Boys and Girls Clubs of America, National Lupus Foundation and the National Kidney Foundation, for whom he acts as an advocate for organ donation.

Last Updated: 12-9-99