Basketball Training Argument - Lebron vs Big O
Oscar Robertson is highly regarded as one of the most well rounded players to ever play the game. He averaged a triple double for an entire season and that’s something that will tough for any player to ever challenge. If there was a player who could do it he would have to be Lebron James. Last night during the Celtics win against Lebron and the Cavs the announcers debated this very point and I wanted to weigh in on my two cents.
I call this a basketball training argument because that’s what I think this is really about. Oscar was clearly ahead of his time and dominated the game from day 1. People tend to miss the fact that he missed averaging a triple double in his rookie season by only .3 assists a game. His 2nd year he made it easily and his most narrow miss again was his 4th season where he fell short by ‘only’ averaging 9.9 rebounds a game. Steals and turnovers weren’t kept stats in his early portion of his career so we’ll never know about those areas altogether. What made Oscar Robertson so good?
Lebron James started playing professionally at 19 years old and has taken the NBA by storm. He hasn’t averaged a triple double for a season but he did average 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists a game this year becoming the 3rd player to do that. The other two were Oscar and Michael Jordan. Michael did it once while Oscar did it 6 times.
Oscar was a 6*5 205 pound athlete who handled the ball outside and played in an era without a lot of height at certain positions and certainly not the depth. He didn’t play against international competition and race was most certainly a factor in the 60’s. He simply dominated the competition and was the best player in the league during the 60’s and that can’t be argued. He made the absolute best of his situation and did what he was supposed to do.
Lebron plays against the best players in the world now and strength training has changed the game. A player like Lebron in the days of Oscar would’ve been something unseen, almost circus like. He’s 6*9 240 pounds and is athletic as it gets. He would’ve been the biggest player, strongest player and most athletic player in the league. The numbers he would’ve put up would be scary. We’ll never know and that’s why we can’t argue era’s. If Oscar were put into today’s game I guarantee he would’ve been a dominant player but he wouldn’t average a triple double. If you give him the same competition, training products and teammates then who knows what Oscar would’ve been like today.
My point is that basketball training and competition is what makes the game so special today. Imagine how far the game has come in the 40 years since Oscar started playing and imagine what it will be like 40 years from now. How much more can we advance in our knowledge and understanding of the human body? Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James…..who’s next?
May 11th, 2008 at 3:58 am
I’ve made the same arguments in swimming - when people try to compare Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps. If Phelps does 7 golds in Beijing this year, or comes close, he’ll be doing something that is tougher to do than it was in 1972. The competition is more intense and deep in most sports these days - like you say, training has moved on, amongst other things.