William Rhoden of the NY Times got the chance to speak to Oscar Robertson, who had plenty to say about one Lebron James.
“…Oscar Robertson has watched LeBron James for years and thinks so highly of the young star that he recently gave him the nod over Kobe as the N.B.A.’s best player.
But with each successive playoff game against Orlando, Robertson, the greatest all-around player in N.B.A. history, said Cleveland was beginning to resemble Robertson’s Cincinnati Royals. While Robertson played with Jerry Lucas from 1963 to 1969, the Royals had no depth.
“When I played for the Royals, when I look back on it, there’s no way we could have won,” Robertson said Monday in a telephone interview from his home in Cincinnati. “We played the Celtics, and they had three or four superstars playing in their lineup. We had one…”
LBJ should heed the example set by the Big O. No doubt one of the best players of all time he toiled in relative obscurity in a small market that was unable to put him with another legitimate superstar.
Hoops aficionado’s know the Big O for what he was but he is hardly the Global Icon that Lebron longs to be. Any player who put up the numbers that Robertson put up for as long as he did should be a household name for all Amreica like Jordan or Magic.
Ironic that Robertson starred in a mid market Ohio town.