One Final Game: Oscar Robertson
Date: March 19, 1974
The original “Mr. Triple Double” had a split career, one that started with absolutely elite superstar dominance on a Cincinnati Royals team that was never good to truly contend. Then he flipped the script, joining the Milwaukee Bucks and accepting a smaller role for his final four seasons, a decision that earned him a title.
With the Bucks, playing off of Lew Alcindor (who would later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Robertson had less of a scoring load. He also had less of an opportunity beside Alcindor, who seemed to collect rebounds as if he had the help of The Force.
In Robertson’s final season the Bucks reached the NBA Finals, losing in seven games to the Boston Celtics in 1974, and he had a number of strong games in that playoff run. For this list, however, we are going to go back a few weeks to the last triple-double of his career, a then-record 181, 103 more than Wilt Chamberlain in second. Robertson’s record would stand for four decades before Russell Westbrook finally overtook him.
In the stretch run of the season, Robertson played 41 minutes in a strong win over the Golden State Warriors, scoring 14 points and pulling in 10 rebounds and 10 assists to notch that final triple double. He chipped in three steals for good measure, making a two-way impact as one of the best players on one of the best teams in the league, even in the twilight of his career.