Big O cites Manny among best ever

MANILA, Philippines - Not too many know that Oscar Robertson is a huge boxing fan and in a quiet room before he coached the USA All-Stars to a 112-93 win over the PBA Legends at the MOA Arena the other night, the Hall of Famer called Manny Pacquiao “one of the greatest fighters of all-time.”

In an exclusive Star interview, the Big O said he thought Pacquiao defeated Timothy Bradley Jr. handily in their recent WBO welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. “I watched the fight a few days after on TV,” said Robertson, ruing the split decision that awarded Bradley the WBO belt. “There was no doubt in my mind that Manny won. I don’t really know how something like that can happen in boxing. Manny against (Floyd) Mayweather? Now, that’s a fight to watch. Mayweather is hard to hit and a very skilled fighter. But Manny has that quick left hook so it should be quite a fight if it ever happens.”

As a boy growing up in Indianapolis, Robertson spent Friday nights gathering around the radio to listen to blow-by-blow accounts of fights. “Whenever a black person, a Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson or Kid Gavilan had an opportunity to fight, it would be great for the black community, a real source of pride and interest,” he said in his book “The Big O – My Life, My Times, My Game.” “I can remember cheering when Joe Louis knocked out Billy Conn in the eighth round of a championship fight and listening when the Brown Bomber defeated Jersey Joe Walcott in successive brawls. Basketball and boxing, church and school comprised my young social life.”

In 1960, Robertson played on the US squad that bagged the gold medal in basketball at the Rome Olympics. That was when he met Cassius Clay, now Muhammad Ali, who took the gold medal as a lightheavyweight boxer and taught him to stay calm in competition because “when you get upset, that’s when you get beat.”

Robertson said representing the country in Rome was a natural progression of his life as a player fresh out of the University of Cincinnati. The US team had an all-collegiate lineup with future NBA stars like Jerry West, Jerry Lucas, Terry Dischinger, Walt Bellamy, Odie Smith, Bob Boozer and Darrall Imhoff.  “We were undefeated and we weren’t even pros,” he said. “Now, the US is represented by NBA stars. We played in a different era, under different circumstances so I couldn’t compare our 1960 team to these so-called Dream Teams.”

Robertson, 73, never coached in the NBA because after he filed a case against the league in 1970 for free agency, there seemed to be an unwritten rule to bar him from coaching. The suit was settled in 1976 with Robertson claiming victory for players in eliminating the option clause. The landmark court decision led to the establishment of a pension plan. Robertson said it remains the backbone of the relationship between the NBA and its players.

“I’ve been told that I could never have survived as a coach, that I’m too much of a perfectionist, too blunt,” he said in his book. “Magic Johnson and Larry Bird each had chances to coach teams and this very problem drove each of them from the bench. I doubt there have been 10 people who understood the game as well as I did. But you must play the cards you are dealt.”

Asked what were his greatest contributions to the sport, Robertson said his pioneering efforts in battling racial prejudice in the NBA and his guard play had to be up there. The 13-year pro is the only NBA player ever to average a triple double – 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 1961-62. Robertson said somebody could come along to duplicate the feat but doubts it because modern-play stars don’t like playing 45 minutes like he used to. His fight against racism has opened doors for African-Americans to assume executive functions in the pro league.

Robertson, who won a ring with Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971, said he has coached in recreational leagues and youth games but never with NBA stars. “More or less, I guess it’s the first time I’m coaching NBA players in this tour although I know them all so it’s not as if it’s new to me,” said Robertson who chose to travel alone and leave his wife Yvonne at home because of the hectic schedule, traveling to three countries in about a week.

A family man, Robertson has three daughters and without a son, used to play football with them. In 1996, he gave up a kidney for his daughter Tia who was diagnosed with lupus.  The six-hour kidney transplant left an 18-inch scar down Robertson’s side and back. “I didn’t think twice about it,” said Robertson. “It’s what a father would do for his child.”

Robertson said he knew the University of Cincinnati varsity, starring Paul Hogue, played exhibition games in Manila in the 1960s. He was surprised that several Cincinnati standouts like Dermarr Johnson, Pete Mickael, Art Long, Ryan Fletcher, Erik Martin and Damon Flint had played in the PBA as imports. Robertson said the Filipinos’ passion for the game is widely recognized.

Robertson said he has no favorite team in the NBA. “All I look for is a well-played game,” he said. In his book, Robertson singled out Kobe Bryant as the best in today’s generation of players.