Oscar Robertson

“But I like to think an athlete is an athlete.”

“It's a sad commentary when I have to say that sometimes in our country we are real sensitive to race.”

“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.”

“This is where young players today want to land. They want to be NBA players because of the money.”

“You don't cut anywhere, don't pick down anywhere, don't double screen, no weak side picking. All these things that should happen in a game of basketball don't happen anymore.”

“They should have a rule: in order to be a sportswriter, you have to have played that sport, at some level; high school, college, junior college, somewhere. Or, you should have had to have been around the game for a long time.”

“But I think the image that's thrown out on television is a bad image. Because you see players who want to imitate hip-hop stars. And the NBA is taking advantage of the situation.”

“It's like all guys want to do is make a dunk, grab their shirt and yell out and scream - they could be down 30 points but that's what they do. Okay, so you made a dunk. Get back down the floor on defense!”

“You need a teaching coach who understands the game of basketball, not just some guy coming on the court talking about Xs and Os.”

“We're all Americans trying to compete. Magic was competing for his team and Larry for his team.”

“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.”

“When you play guard, you're not going to block a lot of shots. Inside, you're going to block shots.”

“I was taught to play that way when I was in high school and even before I got to high school.”

“Now, I guess, people want stars. People are trying to invent stars.”

“But if people are buying the products, naturally they're gonna use them.”

“I don't think that players learn how to play any other aspect of the game in high school or college.”

“If you're a basketball player, you've got to shoot.”

“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.”

“The thing about it is almost everyone could pass that way, but we were kept from doing it by our coaches.”

“Basketball is basketball.”