Two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Oscar Robertson will be the recipient of NBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2018, the league has announced on Friday. Robertson, also known by his nickname “The Big O,” will be presented with the award at second annual NBA Awards ceremony scheduled to take place on Monday, June 25.
Boston Celtics’ legend Bill Russell received the NBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Oscar Robertson is considered one of the greatest players that played in the NBA. He started his NBA career in 1960, being drafted into the league by Cincinnati Royals. In his first season with the Royals, he averaged 30.5 points and 10.1 rebounds while leading the league in assists with 9.7 which earned him NBA Rookie of the Year honors and election into the All-NBA First Team.
After nearly averaging a triple-double in his rookie season, Robertson became the first player in history to achieve this feat in his second NBA season. He averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists, while also setting the NBA records for most triple-doubles in a single season with 41. The record was broken more than half a century later, when Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook became the second player in league’s history to average a triple-double while recording 42 triple-doubles in 2016–17 season.
Oscar Robertson to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2018 #NBAAwards (6/25 @NBAonTNT)! https://t.co/1BobwmdSNI pic.twitter.com/jmRXExva2q
— NBA (@NBA) June 15, 2018
This wasn’t the end to Oscar Robertson’s achievements; since he was named NBA Most Valuable Player in 1964, and went on to have nine All-NBA First Team honors and All-Star selections each during his time with the Royals. In 1970 he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where won his only NBA championship in 1971 before retiring from basketball in 1974.
