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I played when I played, and played, I think, against the greatest players in the greatest time in the history of basketball.

Oscar Robertson

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Oscar Robertson
Age: 86
Born: 1938
Born: November 24
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
The Big O
Oscar Palmer Robertson
Think
Thinking
Players
Played
Basketball
Player
Greatest
History
Time

More quotes by Oscar Robertson

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When I started playing, I wasn't fast, I was gangly, my jumpshot was terrible.
Oscar Robertson
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You've got to learn the footwork, the positioning, how to box out, how to pass, how to shoot your free throws. All these things are necessary, not to be the No. 1 player in the world, but maybe you can play against him.
Oscar Robertson
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There's so many young peoople who start to play basketball and never learn the fundamentals.
Oscar Robertson
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Now, I guess, people want stars. People are trying to invent stars.
Oscar Robertson
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I think that basketball players should get the job done no matter how it looks on the screen.
Oscar Robertson
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The Olympics were great, because you had to make the team, and then go to the games. Now, I don't know, these guys today don't want to do anything like that.
Oscar Robertson
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But I like to think an athlete is an athlete.
Oscar Robertson
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But if people are buying the products, naturally they're gonna use them.
Oscar Robertson
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Just because it is an All-Star Game doesn't mean that you are playing as efficiently as you should.
Oscar Robertson
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Just fundamental things - I played guard and I played forward, so you get into a position where you are pivoting out on the court.
Oscar Robertson
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But after that you don't see a lot of real good fundamental play. You see a showboat-type basketball which is almost parallel to street basketball.
Oscar Robertson
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I think that teaching coaches are the norm now.
Oscar Robertson
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I'd like to think that the nature of the two teams - Boston being a championship team over the years and the Lakers, same thing - was a lot bigger than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.
Oscar Robertson
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I don't blame David Stern because a player gets on the court and he doesn't put out competitively. No one can make you play if you don't want to play.
Oscar Robertson
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We're all Americans trying to compete. Magic was competing for his team and Larry for his team.
Oscar Robertson
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When you play against different people from all walks of life you can't do the same thing against every player defensively or offensively. You have to change up the way you go at a player.
Oscar Robertson
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I think no one has written a history of the great coaches who were around 30 to 40 years ago who taught the fundamentals.
Oscar Robertson
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Look, I think you should promote the game, but I think you should make it what it ought to be. Not some kind of a side-show.
Oscar Robertson
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But when I did it (the triple-double), I didn't even know it until someone told me.
Oscar Robertson
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I don't think that players learn how to play any other aspect of the game in high school or college.
Oscar Robertson