by William Cook
But after the Royals started the 1970–71 season with five straight losses, the reality sunk in that Cousy still had some work to do with remodeling the team. By Thanksgiving, the Royals were 7–13.
In January 1971, Bob Cousy would be elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with Bob Pettit and the late Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters, who had died in 1966.
However, Cousy’s pending enshrinement in Springfield did little to elevate the Royals in the standings. On January 9, 1971, the Royals at 19–23 were still fighting to get their record above .500. It didn’t help matters much that they were still losing home-court advantage by continuing to play so many games on neutral courts. With the season about half over, the Royals had already played three of their home games in Omaha and one in Madison, Wisconsin. Later, they played games in Toronto, Ontario, and Eugene, Oregon.
The 1970–71 Cincinnati Royals failed to make the playoffs for the fourth year in a row finishing third in the Central Division of the NBA East Conference with a record of 33–49 while home attendance at Cincinnati Gardens dropped by 15.5% from the previous season.
While Bob Cousy was content with the hard work of Tom Van Arsdale and praising the play of Norm Van Lier and Nate Archibald, he was blaming the Royals’ inability to win games on Sam Lacey. He felt that he was not aggressive enough; he’d let his man get position on him and didn’t understand that when you let the opposing center get the ball in low, you’re going to get burned. Furthermore, Cousy felt Lacey lacked confidence and that he couldn’t get the job done without giving him a pep-talk before taking the court.
According to Cousy, Sam Lacey didn’t even know where the weak side of the court was. Cousy stated that once in practice, he shouted at Lacey to go to the weak side (where the ball isn’t)! But Lacey immediately ran to the strong side (where the ball is). So Cousy called him over to where he was standing. “‘Sam,’ I asked, ‘what does weak side mean?’ Lacey looked at the floor and said, ‘I don’t know.’”2
Sam Lacey had been an All-American at New Mexico State and was the number five pick in the 1970 NBA draft. In the opinion of the New York Times, Sam Lacey had a fine rookie season. Although Lacey would go on to play thirteen years in the NBA and average 10.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, he could never make the grade with Cousy.
One night during Lacey’s rookie year in 1970–71, after the Royals had played that night in Boston, Cousy got together for a post-game dinner with one of his former Celtics teammates, Tom Heinsohn, who was, at that time, coach of the Celtics. Almost immediately, Cousy began complaining to Heinsohn about Sam Lacey; he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t do that, he didn’t take to being coached very well.
Finally, Heinsohn interrupted Cousy stating that he needed to take a realistic look at the circumstances surrounding Lacey. Heinsohn reminded Cousy that the Royals had signed him for a lot of money, so Lacey must feel that the team’s management thought pretty highly of him. Then, Heinsohn said, “His wife thinks he’s great. His mother thinks he’s great. His agent thinks he’s great. You’re the only guy telling him he’s not great. So, Cooz, who do you think he’s going to listen to?”3 Sam Lacey finished the 1970–71 season scoring 13.5 points and grabbing 11.3 rebounds per game.
Tom Van Arsdale led the Royals in scoring with 22.4 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
As for Cousy’s fast-break guards, Nate Archibald scored 16.0 points per game with 5.5 assists and 3 rebounds. Norm Van Lier scored 10.1 points per game, had 10.1 assists, and 7.1 rebounds.
The Royals third guard, Flynn Robinson, one of the key players in the Oscar Robertson trade, spent most of the season on the bench. While Robinson scored 13.3 points per game, his average playing time was just 19.3 minutes per game. At the end of the season, Robinson was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Joe Axelson, Robinson did not fit in with the Royals. However, Robinson fit in beautifully with the Lakers. Backing up Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, Robinson was one of the key players that led the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1972 NBA Championship. Lakers’ radio broadcasters referred to Robinson as “Mr. Instant Point.”
It was a fact that Joe Axelson had not even read Oscar Robertson’s contract when he attempted to trade him to the Baltimore Bullets. Whether or not Axelson or Bob Cousy, had attempted to belittle the contributions of Oscar Robertson to the Cincinnati Royals was conjecture. Robertson’s exit from Cincinnati had been filled with innuendos and bitterness.
It was amidst such ballyhoo that The Big O arrived at the Milwaukee Bucks training camp in the summer of 1970. For fourteen years, playing at the University of Cincinnati and with the Cincinnati Royals, Oscar Robertson had worn the familiar number 14 on his jersey.
Jon McGlocklin had been wearing number 14 for the Milwaukee Bucks and out of deference to The Big O, he offered his jersey number to him. But Robertson refused McGlocklin’s offer. Instead, he took number 1. Robertson proclaimed that coming to Milwaukee was a new basketball life for him. Cincinnati was in the past and the only thing that mattered was winning with the Bucks.
The Milwaukee Bucks, with coach Larry Costello, had built a team very wisely—one that some analysts felt had the potential to be an instant dynasty. Of course, the Bucks had been fortunate to have the first pick in the 1969 draft and be able to select Lew Alcindor who had been on championship basketball teams almost his entire life. First, at Power Memorial High School in the Bronx where he led the team to a series of New York City championships; then, at UCLA where he played on three consecutive NCAA championship teams coached by John Wooden.
But aside from drafting Alcindor, the Bucks had also made two very wise trades. In acquiring Oscar Robertson from Cincinnati and Bob Boozer and Lucius Allen from Seattle, they had given up the same number of players and got $100,000 in cash.
While the record showed that Oscar Robertson was the third highest scorer in NBA history, it was apparent to all observers that The Big O they were witnessing in a Milwaukee Bucks uniform was not the player of the past. He was visibly older, somewhat heavier and was less of a dribbler and more defensive minded.
But being on the Bucks gave Oscar Robertson a chance to finally play with an extremely good center and it gave Lew Alcindor the opportunity to play with an extremely good play-maker. To that end, The Big O scored less as Jim McGlocklin was a spectacular outside shooter and instead ran a deliberate offense and set-up play for Alcindor and Bob Dandridge. With Robertson on the court, it made it much easier for Lew Alcindor, Bob Dandridge, and Gregg Smith to get open.
To get full utility out of all this talent, Larry Costello and his assistant coach, Tom Nissalke, watched hours of game films and set up hard, well-organized practices filled with grueling repetition drills. Everything became business-like for Costello, Alcindor, Robertson, and the rest of the team. As a result, the 1970–71 season was a cakewalk for the Milwaukee Bucks.
With their starting five shooting better than 50%, early in the season, the Bucks won 16 consecutive games and later won a record 20 consecutive games on their way to setting a league-best record of 66–16.
Led by Lew Alcindor, who had averaged 31.7 points per game with 16 rebounds and 3.3 assists, and Oscar Robertson, who had averaged 19.4 points per game with 5.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists while being named an All-Star for the 11th time.
In the playoffs, the Bucks made quick work of the San Francisco Warriors in the West Conference Semi-Finals, winning the series 4 games to 1. Then, the Bucks dispatched the Los Angeles Lakers with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor out with injuries, 4 games to 1 in the Conference Finals.
In the finals, the Bucks defeated the East Conference champion, the Baltimore Bullets, 4 games 0 to win the 1971 NBA Championship with Oscar Robertson scoring 30 points in the final game. It was only the second finals sweep in NBA history, the first being Boston over Minneapolis in 1959. Lew Alcindor was named the Finals MVP having averaged 27.0 points per game, 18.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.
Th
e Bullets had been riddled with injuries to key players such as Wes Unseld, Gus Johnson, and Earl Monroe. While Monroe did score 26 points in game one, had he been healthy, the matchup of him against Robertson might have been a classic.
The 1971–72 season would be the NBA’s twenty-fifth anniversary as a league. Prior to the season, Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Milwaukee Bucks finished first again in the Midwest Division with a record of 60–23.
A lot of fans and people in the media believed that the Milwaukee Bucks were going to be the next dynasty in the NBA. But a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation; the Bucks lost the West Conference Finals to the eventual NBA champion, the Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 2.
There has remained speculation that the Bucks didn’t win back-to-back NBA championships because following the 1970–71 title run, management broke up the team.
Oscar Robertson addressed the issue stating, “After the championship, they did something which was really foolish. They traded Gregg Smith, Bob Boozer, and Dick Cunningham. You had people who really did not understand what a team concept means. You win a championship and make a trade of any key ballplayer, and it’s the kiss of death.”4
In 1972–73, the Bucks again won the Midwest Division and lost the West Conference Finals to the Golden State Warriors (the former San Francisco Warriors who had moved to Oakland prior to the season), 4 games to 2.
For the fourth consecutive year in 1973–74, the Milwaukee Bucks won the Midwest Division, this time with a record of 59–23. The Bucks advanced to the NBA Finals but were defeated by the Boston Celtics led by Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, and JoJo White in a seven-game series.
The seventh game of the series, played in Milwaukee and won by Boston 102–87, was Oscar Robertson’s last game in his brilliant 14-year NBA career. The Big O, who was now 35 years old, scored only 6 points and was just 2 for 13 shooting field goals and 2 for 2 at the foul line.
The Milwaukee Bucks decided that they didn’t need Oscar Robertson anymore and failed to offer him a new contract. So, Robertson was a free agent, but rather than pursue his NBA career any further, he chose retirement.
Although The Big O had won an NBA championship ring with the Bucks, he left Milwaukee just as unhappy as he had left Cincinnati, holding the belief that the Bucks had lowballed him.
The year after Oscar Robertson retired, although the Milwaukee Bucks still had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the frontcourt, they did not qualify for the playoffs, finishing in 1974–75 with a record of 38–44.
It had been a wonderful experience for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to play with Oscar Robertson and is a memory that he has always cherished. In 2014, freelance journalist Jon Saraceno asked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Who was the best basketball player not named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?” Kareem’s reply without hesitation was, “LeBron James is an incredible talent, but Oscar Robertson in his prime would blow people’s minds today.”5
Through the 2017–18 season, Oscar Robertson is the twelfth-leading scorer in NBA history with 26,710 career points, is sixth all-time in assists with 9,887, and eighteenth in field goals made with 9,508. He was a twelve-time All-Star, and he remains the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season. In 1961–62, The Big O finished the year averaging 30.8 points per game, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists.
By contrast, more modern era players, such as LeBron James, have had 28 triple doubles in a season, Michael Jordan had 27, but in 1961–62, Oscar Robertson had 41.
Oscar Robertson’s legacy, however, is larger than his career statistics. During the early part of the 1969–70 season, as president of the NBA Players Association, Robertson, along with player representatives that included Paul Silas, Dave DeBusschere, John Havlicek, and Larry Fleisher, the players association attorney, had been working on a plan to end the NBA’s reserve clause.
Four days before leaving the Cincinnati Royals in April 1970, Oscar Robertson became part of one of the most important court cases in NBA history. The landmark case known commonly as the Oscar Robertson suit, filed by the NBA’s Players Association, of which Robertson was president, against the league, stalled a proposed merger between the NBA and the ABA. The anti-trust suit, filed in New York District Court, challenged the merger as a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as the legality of the college draft and the NBA’s reserve clause that prohibited free agency. In 1975, six years after the suit was filed, the NBA, in an out-of-court settlement, agreed to merge with the ABA in 1976–77.
The draft remained intact. But drafted players now had the right to refuse to join the teams that had drafted them, sit out for a year and then re-enter the draft. In addition, teams were no longer required to provide compensation when signing a free-agent player which in the future, would lead to such high-profile free agency signings as LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers in July 2010 (“This fall, I’m taking my talents to South Beach and joining the Miami Heat.”). The settlement led to the signing of more free agents and eventually led to even higher salaries for all players.
In the spring of 1971, Max Jacobs moved the Royals’ business operations, along with the team’s financial records, to Buffalo. In December, Joe Axelson went to Buffalo and met with Max Jacobs. Axelson told Jacobs that the Royals were not going to make it in Cincinnati. So they had two choices, sell the team or move it. Jacobs accepted Axelson’s recommendation, and they began looking for a city to relocate the franchise. It was now only a matter of time before the Cincinnati Royals no longer existed.
In the regular 1971 NBA draft, Joe Axelson and Bob Cousy drafted ten players and then one in the league’s first hardship draft. None of those players would improve the Royals. Of those ten players taken in the regular draft, five would never play one game in the NBA. Two others would play just one season, while Ken Durrett, a 6′7″ forward from La Salle University, would play four years in the NBA and John Mengelt, a 6′2″ guard from Auburn, would play for ten years.
It cost the Royals $1.4 million over three years to sign Ken Durrett. He had injured his knee in his senior year at La Salle. While doctors told Cousy and Axelson that Durrett was able to play, his knee became problematic during the 1971–72 season, and he would have to be operated on.
The blue-chip player obtained by the Royals was Nate Williams, a 6′5″ guard/forward from Utah taken as the number one pick in the hardship draft. Williams would go on to play 12 years in the NBA.
The hardship draft had come about as a result of a court case challenging the NBA’s eligibility requirements. Spencer Haywood had played junior college basketball at Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado in 1967–68. Then, he played on the 1968 U. S. Olympic Team that won a Gold Medal in Mexico City. Haywood transferred to the University of Detroit, wherein the 1968–69 season, he averaged 32.1 points per game and led the nation in rebounding with 21.5 per game.
Feeling he had nothing more to accomplish at the collegiate level, Spencer Haywood signed a contract with the Denver Rockets of the ABA that did not have a restriction on signing college undergraduates. One again, Haywood excelled becoming the ABA Rookie of the Year in 1969–70 while averaging 30.0 points per game.
Then, the next year, Haywood, just 21 years old, attempted to jump leagues and signed a contract with the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics.
At that time, the NBA prohibited signing college players before their class had graduated. The NBA and all of its teams immediately objected to the Sonics signing Haywood because he had not gone through the regular draft. Therefore, the Sonics had no right to sign him.
The NBA filed suit against Spencer Haywood and the Seattle Sonics. Haywood’s stance was that he was the sole wage earner in his under-privileged family and subsequently was a “hardship case,” and the NBA with its eligibility rule was blocking his right to earn a living.
The case quickly wound its way through the justice system and was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled 7–2 in Haywood’s favor.
On Septem
ber 10, 1971, the NBA held its first “hardship draft” or supplemental draft for college underclassmen. In 1976, the need to prove a hardship would be removed from the requirement for underclassmen who wished to enter the NBA draft and replaced by the early entry procedure whereby any player with remaining college eligibility could enter the NBA draft on the condition that he notified the league office at least 45 days before the draft.
The 1971–72 Cincinnati Royals season would be a complete disaster. The squad would be the last Royals team to play in the Queen City and would finish with the worst win-loss record in eleven years and third poorest of any team since the franchise was relocated from Rochester.
The roster that Bob Cousy and Joe Axelson chose for the 1971–72 Royals included five veterans: Johnny Green, now 38 years old; Darrall Imhoff, 33; Tom Van Arsdale, 28; Matt Guokas, 27; and Norm Van Lier, 24; along with three second-year players: Nate Archibald, Jake Jones, and Sam Lacey; and six rookies: Nate Williams, Ken Durrett, John Mengelt, Sid Catlett, Jake Jones, and Gil McGregor.
Matt Guokas had come to the Royals in a trade with the Chicago Bulls for Charlie Paulk. Cousy had come to the conclusion that Paulk, like so many other of his players, wasn’t aggressive enough. It begged the question of if the only person who could have lived up to Cousy’s expectation under the boards was someone like Hulk Hogan.
Nonetheless, in all fairness to Cousy, he may have been right about Charlie Paulk. His NBA career lasted only five years and 120 games. But now both players, Charlie Paulk and Flynn Robinson, obtained in the botched Oscar Robertson trade by Cousy and Axelson were with other NBA teams leaving the Royals with nothing in return for a future Hall of Fame player.
After defeating Phoenix 110–95 on November 7 at Cincinnati Gardens with the usual crowd of 3,076 diehard fans, surprisingly, the Royals found themselves in first place in the Central Division of the East Conference with a record of 3–6.
