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Biography of Oscar RobertsonName: Oscar RobertsonBirth Date: November 24, 1938 Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: Charlotte, Tennessee, United States of America Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: basketball player, businessman, sportscaster Oscar Robertson Known as "The Big O," Oscar Robertson (born 1938) is regarded as one of the greatest, most versatile players ever to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Michael Jordan of his time, Robertson played guard for the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks.Born Oscar Palmer Robertson on November 24, 1938, in Charlotte, Tennessee, he was the son of Mazell (nee Bell) Robertson. As a child, his family (which included two elder brothers) moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. Robertson grew up in poverty, living in the ghetto. His brothers, who played basketball at a local YMCA, introduced him to the game at an early age. (Brother Bailey went on to play professional basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters.)Extraordinary Basketball Ability at an Early AgeBy the time Robertson entered junior high school, his skills as a basketball player were already evident. As future professional teammate, Wayne Embry, told Terry Pluto in Tall Tales, "…showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…accomplishments on the basketball court. As Jack McCallum wrote in Sports Illustrated, "He was America's first Mr. Basketball, a player whose nonpareil skills--and nickname--were known even to people who knew little or nothing about the game." Further Reading African-American Sports Greats: A Biographical Dictionary, edited by David L. Porter, Greenwood Press, 1995.Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Basketball and Other Indoor Sports, edited by David L. Porter, Greenwood Press, 1989.Hickok, Ralph, The Encyclopedia of North American Sports History, Facts on File, Inc., 1992.Page, James A., Black Olympian Medallists, Libraries Unlimited, 1991.Pluto, Terry, Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA, in the Words of the Men Who Played, Coached and Built Pro Basketball, Simon and Schuster, 1992.Capital Times, April 11, 1997.Dallas Morning News, December 21, 1996.Fortune, September 26, 1988.Jet, August 2, 1993.Los Angeles Times, February 18, 1985.Newsday, January 5, 1997; July 31, 1999; May 16, 1999.People Weekly, May 26, 1997; December 29, 1997.The Record, April 14, 1991.Sports Illustrated, November 15, 1999.St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 27, 1997. |