Oscar Robertson, Guard (1960-1974)
Teams: Cincinnati Royals, Milwaukee Bucks
Career best stat line: 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, 12.5 rebounds (1961-62)
“The Big O” is known around the NBA community as the king of triple-doubles. As a 6-foot-5 point guard, during a time when offensive and defensive rebounds were not recorded, he was able to box out and out-rebound centers and power forwards, on almost any given night.
Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double, in today’s game, is a great accomplishment but one can’t deny that in today’s ubiquitous fast-paced offense, bigs are often now leaking out and allowing the point guard to grab the rebound to start the fast break.
This tendency is especially the case, in OKC, where they are forced to play this way since they lack the shooting, which can make it difficult to score in the half-court offense. Had Robertson played with this amount of guard freedom, he would have had a strong chance at doubling his rebound and assist averages as well as finally having the accomplishment be recorded.