Rumors

Who is your basketball GOAT? Lance Stephenson: Michael Jordan is number one. T-Mac is the reason I wore number one — had all his sneakers. My school was Adidas-sponsored, so I repped T-Mac. Also, Oscar Robertson. I feel like my game is like his — pass, shoot, attack — all-around player.

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You were selected 13th in the 1963 Draft by a really great Lakers team that was just off a Finals loss. As a rookie joining that team with championship expectations, how challenging was that for you? Jim King: “It was a very challenging thing. In those days the Phillips 66ers was right outside of Tulsa. They had their own team and were the AAU champions. They had offered me a contract to come up there, and what you would do, you want to get paid for playing, so you got paid for working for Phillips 66. And I thought well, if I don’t make the pros I’ll come back here. He told me no, per NCAA rules if you try out for a pro team you are not eligible for any other amateur league. So I would’ve had to go to Europe, that put a little pressure on me. I had to decide if I thought I could make it or not, or I was through.” “So I went to the GM and I said I want a no-cut contract and he said ‘we don’t give no-cut contracts’. I said okay, can you tell me what you want me to do and he said ‘well, I’ll tell you what, If you can get the ball and bring it down the floor against the other tough guards so Jerry West doesn’t have to, you may make the team. If you can cover the Sam Jones’s and the Oscar Robertson’s of the league so Jerry doesn’t have to, you’ve got a chance to make the team’ so I took the contract, $9,500 and a $500 check for a bonus, but I had to go out and make the team.”

The Hooper Holler

NBA PR: In Indiana’s Game 4 victory tonight, Tyrese Haliburton became the first player to have at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists and no turnovers in a playoff game since the 1977-78 season (when turnovers were first tracked). The only other players to reach those totals for points, rebounds and assists in a playoff game are Oscar Robertson and Nikola Jokić.

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Jorge Sierra: Draymond Green passed Oscar Robertson, Dwight Howard and Maurice Cheeks in playoff scoring last night. He's No. 75 all-time now. He also tied Kawhi Leonard in steals at No. 18.

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Cade Cunningham put together an impressive playoff debut. He joined Luka Doncic (2020) and Oscar Robertson (1962) as the only players to average 25 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in their first playoff series in NBA history, per ESPN Research. He said he was most proud of the jump he made in leading the team as a facilitator and teammate. "We proved to ourselves that what we have in the room works and can be very successful in the NBA," he said. "I think at the same time, we proved that to the rest of the league as well that when they come play Detroit, it's going to be a dogfight and you're going to have to come play the whole 48 and if you get up early on, we're going to find our way back into the game and give ourselves a shot to win every night. So I think that's the thing that the whole league has taken notice, too, and just the belief in the locker room has grown a ton."

ESPN

Walt Frazier: WIn the playoffs, my palms get sweaty. Memories come back. I get the chill bumps, because I always say, in the regular season you make your name and in the playoffs you gain your fame. That’s when you think about the confrontations with Earl [Monroe] and Oscar [Robertson] and [Jerry] West, all the different guys rising to that occasion. Nothing else in my life has given me that challenge, nothing else has gotten me to that point. The playoffs is the thing. Now I won't be able to experience that.”

Newsday

Tim Reynolds: Denver’s Nikola Jokic has clinched a triple-double average for the season, the third player in NBA history to achieve such a feat. He joins Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players to do it.

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Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reached 20 points Friday night against the Houston Rockets for the 70th straight game, moving past Michael Jordan for the fourth-longest single-season streak in NBA history. Gilgeous-Alexander made 1 of 2 free throws at the end of the third quarter to give him 20 points and eclipse the 69-game streak Jordan had in 1990-91 and become the first player to have a 70-game streak since the 1960s. He finished with 22 points in the Thunder's 125-111 loss to the Rockets, the No. 2 team behind OKC in the Western Conference, as Oklahoma City's win streak ended at 11. Wilt Chamberlain tops the list with 80-game streaks in both the 1961-62 and 1963-64 seasons. Oscar Robertson is third with a 76-game streak in 1963-64.

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Keerthika Uthayakumar: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 20+ points in 69 consecutive games, tied with Michael Jordan for the fourth-longest single-season streak in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain (80x2) & Oscar Robertson (76) have had longer streaks of 20 or more.

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Q: Who was the toughest guy you had to guard? Walt Frazier: Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Earl The Pearl. Oscar because he was so big he was going to pound you. West, he was so smart, he’s going to stop and pop. But Earl didn’t know what he was going to do, how could I know, you know?

New York Post

Draymond Green: Just a month and a half ago, Oscar Robertson said I do nothing on the basketball court. Yet I got a chance to put on the same jacket he put on. He said it unprompted. I didn’t say anything about Oscar Robertson. I didn’t say anything about players from his generation. I actually said something about players from our generation. And he then took it upon himself to completely try to lessen who I am. You don’t have to like my game, but to say I do nothing on the basketball court? Like, that’s either disrespectful or dumb. Like, it’s one of the two. You’re either being disrespectful, or you’re not smart. So you pick. And I’m going to say it’s disrespect, because I’d like to believe he’s smart. So yeah, I don’t think that respect is passed down to us from the other generations. But I think people are quick to say, ‘Oh, you gotta respect them because they came before.’ No. I don’t agree with that. I disagree with that.”

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Draymond Green: Let’s start to get real. You just can’t tell me everybody deserves respect. That’s not a fact. Everybody don’t deserve respect just because you played before me. You don’t deserve respect. There are a lot of people in the club, and not everybody can dance. Facts, BD. Just because you played before me does not mean you deserve respect. I’m sorry. But God had it in His plan for you to be born before me, and you just deserve respect because of that? No. My mom ain’t raise me that way. Respect is earned.”

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Jorge Sierra: Russell Westbrook passed Oscar Robertson in assists last night and is now No. 8 in NBA history. Also: Stephen Curry is No. 45 in steals after moving ahead of Paul George.

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Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists and the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Phoenix Suns 149-141 in overtime Friday night after losing a 21-point lead. Jokic became the first NBA player with a triple-double of at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists. He tied his team record with his 29th triple-double of the season, stretching his career total to 149. It was also the seventh time this season that Jokic had at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a game, tied with Oscar Robertson (1961-62) for the most in a season in NBA history.

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