Jerry West VS Oscar Robertson: Who Was Greater? 

JJ Redick wished he could be as good as these part time plumbers. He didn't come close.

Both were awesome. I watched them both. Any young person today who think they wouldn't compete today has no clue.

Having seen them both play, I'd have to go with Oscar - but it's close enough overall that I'd call it less than a hair thin edge, and I'm not going to actively disagree with those that call it Jerry.

The Big O was the reason I took up basketball as a kid. He was the bomb to me.

Wow! This has been probably the best video I've seen on comparing two great players. 👍🏻 Side note: I think Oscar & Elgin Baylor are sadly, two of the most forgotten, underrated super stars of the game. Great video. Keep it up.

Two great players. All-time greats!

I was a Jr High kid who was nuts about Basketball, from L.A. so of course I was a big Laker fan. Probably the coolest thing about either of these 2 guys is if you were to ask him, he'd say the other guy.....

Having to face Russell's Celtics year after year in the finals and finishing second doesn't diminish West's greatest. He put up great stats in the finals but the Celtics always seemed to come out on top. I cannot say who was better because both played different roles and styles. Let's say that you couldn't go wrong having either on your squad, and Robertson and West both had a mutual respect and admiration for each other...

As a Laker fan in 71 and 72 our biggest rival was the big O and Jabber Dandrige

Oscar was a huge guard by the standards of his time. He was 6'5 with a very strong build. I don't think there was a taller NBA guard than Oscar until Matt Guokas came along a few years later at 6'6. Of course Magic Johnson played at 6'9, and ever since there have been so many big NBA point guards that fans don't appreciate how dominant Oscar was.

Keep in mind that Oscar beat out BOTH WILT AND BILL RUSSELL for his MVP. Very rare company, that - I think he's ALONE at managing that feat! On the other hand, Jerry was the ONLY Finals MVP from the losing team - and the very first. Also unique company!

There is no comparison in my opinion both of them were extraordinary ballplayers. And well rounded ballplayers to boot, they were like text books on how to play the game correctly.

I enjoyed both, can not understand the absolute dedication with you guys to determine who was best. They were both the best!

Spot on analysis! Both are considered the two greatest guards of their time. They were considered the two best during their playing days. I give the edge to West based on his defense, clutch performances and playoff scoring. Both are incredible and their names will forever be linked together.

Having seen both West and the Big O play, I'd have to give the edge to Oscar in the early to mid '60s and then I'd give the edge to West from the latter '60s to the '70s. Overall, I'd give the edge to Mr Clutch, The Logo, Jerry West. Jerry would never say he's better than Oscar because West is so humble. Both re two of the greatest players to ever lace em up. 💯

one of the best basketball videos ive seen on the internet. Fascinating, excellent, just what a good job. Please keep at it in your lane as they say, it's gold on youtube

Big O. The scoring section should have went to oscar. He had percentage and total points plus better free throw shooter.

Each was great to watch, and each was a class act. Lucky to be a kid learning basketball while able to watch these two guys at their peaks.

Mr. Logo and Mr. Players' Rep - match made in heaven

Comparing two of the absolute greatest of all time. They were both absolutely amazing to watch. Nice summary of their respective careers.

Two guys i knew fathers said, that the greatest player they saw was Oscar Robertson.

Extremely similar and both we're Amazingly GREAT...But I'll have to give a slight edge to Jerry West.

This is a very good video! Very well done. I am an old timer from Boston and have seen both of these players in live games, and I too have had a hard time over the years figuring out who was better. I think I have always leaned on the big O because of his assists and rebounding, but your video brought attention to West’s defense that I have over looked all of these years. Something that you left out was that the Big O had a very sweet shot and it would have been very interesting to see him play with the 3pt line. My analysis after watching your video is that they are dead freggon even….. but the difference is that West is the NBA logo !

that's a great video. i saw both of them play towards the end of their careers, and they are both deserving of the label "legend". i think either one could be said to be better overall, but jerry's defense probably does give him the edge imo. good call!

I saw them both for years. Oscar was so much stronger than Jerry and had so little help. Have them switch teams, wow, the Lakers would have won even more. Both great.

Very diplomatic and analytical. Thank you.

Fun video. I have only watched playoffs when I go watch old games and so I was pretty heavily on the Jerry West side of the argument, but it was cool to get the take from someone who has a more full understanding of the era.

As a Lakers fan I'm Jerry West. But the big O was the truth 💯

Excellent, excellent analysis!

One cannot gloss over the fact that Jerry West played with teams that had other talented players. Elgin Baylor . . Wilt Chamberlain . . Happy Hairston . . Gail Goodrich . . Tom Hawkins . . just to name a few. For the most part during his 10-year tenure with the Royals, Oscar had to be a one man wrecking crew. Other than Jerry Lucas who was a much better college player than he was a professional, there wasn't much support. My vote goes to the Big "O". John Havlicek and Jerry West both have said that Oscar is the greatest player that they had ever played against. Chuck Daly and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have compared Robertson very favorable to Michael Jordan. I suppose that you couldn't go wrong with either one in the grand scheme of things.

I'm old school and I have only seen two unstoppable shots in my life; Kareem's skyhook and Jerry West's baseline jumper.

Different styles of players. Neck and neck, razor thin margins. Can't argue with anyone who picks Oscar, but I pick Jerry by a hair. I watched both of them play.

Can't forget David Thompson's 73 & George Gervin 63pts.

Two of the best to ever do it... Both would dominate the NBA if they played now.

Tough one man...I was too young to remember both of these legends until their very end around '73 & '74...I want to hear from the folks older than me (58) on this one,

Well done. Rebounding, (offensive and defensive), is a unique and valuable skill that rightfully merits separate stats. Oscar's rebounding was literally head and shoulders above Jerry's. I saw them play. They were the two best guards of their era, and together they make up the dream backcourt of my all-time team - (with all due respect to Jordan, Magic, etc.)

Outstanding video!!! Oscar and Jerry are so close, you really can't go wrong with either choice. Like Bird and Magic, Oscar and Jerry came into the league together, led the 1960 Olympic team together, and have always been linked together historically. They are both all-time iconic players, and along with Elgin Baylor, both have been hugely under-appreciated as the years have gone by. Videos like this are important to inform the current basketball loving public about just how fabulous both these legends were. BTW, another great comparison video would be Larry Bird vs Rick Barry. History will always regard Bird as an all-time, top ten player. But to those who saw Rick Barry at his peak, they know that he was the equal to Larry Bird in every way as a player. He was a lights out shooter, an unstoppable overall scorer, a spectacular passer, and when he decided to be, he was an effective defender Rick has been harmed historically because of his prickly, difficult personality, and his amazing ability to piss off referees, teammates, coaches, and the media. Yet on the court, there was nothing that Bird could do that Rick Barry couldn't do, and on just as high a level.

Very close. Scoring, even. Assists, Oscar. Rebounding, Oscar. Defense, West. Oscar better early in their careers. West better at the end.

The knock on Robertson-and the reason he had some of those gaudy stats-was his usage rate. I realize point guards are supposed to have the ball, but it’s said he over controlled the game. Not much oxygen for his teammates.

Fuck I missed three of your videos in a row! Shame on me, lol. Now I'm gonna binge these...

Nice job👍😊

I watched both of them play from 1969 till they retired.. in this period I'd take west... Before that might be different.. but I like west better

More of this content yo!

Right on. Zeke. Play-offs say everything. I think when he retired he held highest play-off ppg avg and he held it for a long time. Mr. Clutch. The Logo. GM who put Showtime together..

This is such a close call for me. Both played the same amount of years in the league and what’s even more interesting is that when both won their only titles, they were both #2’s behind Wilt in West’s case and Kareem in Oscar’s. But overall, I would say Oscar was the better individual player but West was ultimately the player that you would trust just a little bit more with a game on the line. Oscar was going to give you about the same fantastic stat line wither regular season or playoffs. West seemed to raise his level of play to another level once the playoffs came around. I think there was a ceiling west could get to in the biggest moments and games that I’m not sure Oscar could quite get to.

Excellent video. I personally rank by tiers for exactly this reason - I can understand the argument for both so much that I can't say definitively who's actually better so I just put them in tier 2. MJ, LBJ, and Kareem are tier 0, though sometimes I might put Wilt and Bill there as well. Love your presentation and the humility involved in how you presented your opinion.

In my opinion Jerry was the best shooting guard ever and Oscar was the best playmaker ever sorry Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson

im 20 so never saw either play, but i use 73 lakers on 2k & jerry west is a CHEAT CODE💯🤣🤣🤣

Tight race between the two greats.

Good video

It's about as close as it can get, but I'm going with Oscar on this. The points are close enough, but the rebounds and assists... West's defense was great. It's tough because we know that blocks, steals and a 3 point line would have boosted the case for West. Gotta go with what is, not what we wish it to be: Oscar.

I loved both players, but I always thought O was a slightly better player. Jerry was something else. I saw a game at the Garden in the 60s and was right next to the court. I was surprised by how high Jerry got on his jump shot. It seemed like he was shooting his jumper from the same height as the basket. He had long arms too. He was amazing. I never saw O play in person but I saw him on tv a lot. I didn't like his game as much while he was at Milwaukee. He was too ball dominant and it made the game less fun to watch. Don't look at Jerry's championship losses. He was clutch. Nowadays I would call it a draw.

Early in their pro careers, you'd have to say Oscar was better but it didn't take long for West to catch up. On the back half of their careers, I'd have to give the edge to Mr Clutch as his stats were better and jerry led the NBA in assists while still averaging in the mid 20s in points. West was also a an all-NBA defender. Of course, the Big O was so great and especially with the Royals.

Actually in the 1970s when all three were in their thirties john havlicek regularly out played both west and oscar..i watched it live on tv several times

I would have to go with Big O. Walking triple double. Enough said.

Nice job

Its so sad to see that todays NBA fans underestimate both of these greats.

So closely matched up. Size, skill level, dominant at that position for most of their careers. I will go with Oscar. Averaging a triple double almost twice! And he played on lesser teams and was more durable.

You really can't go wrong with either but having said that, Oscar was picture perfect in everything he did and always made it look too easy. There's one memory I still have of him going inside on bill russell, getting him up in the air and then dropping a fall away jumper, as picture perfect as a shot could be. One of the reasons his stats dropped off after leaving the royals was he didn't have to be the main scorer and spent more time setting up his teammates. He shot less and played less minutes in his four yrs with the bucks. Zeke could always be counted on to take the last shot in a close game. Everyone knew he was going to take it and while I have no stats to back it up, it seemed he made it more often than not. Just imagine the two of them in the 1960 Olympics in the same back court!

The big O was the better player. Hands down. The man had less help and put in that work. That's why people keep knocking KD for his golden state championships as the team was loaded with stars.

This guy's talking about West's playoff production which was great. But he had a lot more great players on his teams. Until The Big O got with the bucks teams geared their entire defenses around stopping Oscar and they still couldn't do it.

This one is really hard, because I might have the impression that Jerry was a better defender, but I can't truly confirm that I can't put down Oscar's defense out of ignorance. And Oscar was a better passer and rebounder. He simply put the ball in play more and was probably a better offensive floor raiser due to his playmaking in general helping teammates. Jerry was insanely efficient though, so far above league average and doing it as a guard. That has to count for something and if Jerry has better defense I almost begin to feel like it's too close for me to judge.

Can't help but think, "spoken like a true Lakers fan." Got to go with Big O.

You are 100% spot on. When it counted,only Michael Jordan had a higher scoring average in the playoffs.

Both great but Oscar

Two great guards. However, West, by his own admission, once said that he wasn't a great dribbler. And he may have been a good defender but Robertson was too and in the years from '68-'70 Walt Frazier was the best in the NBA at stealing the ball. Robertson shut down Earl Monroe in Milwaukee's championship win over Baltimore. So West was indeed great and so was Robertson. From 1969-1975 Walt Frazier was great. He never even emphasized scoring like the other top guards. Yes Oscar Robertson and Jerry West were two of the greatest guards ever. Frazier, Monroe, Dick Barnett, Gale Goodrich, and others were really good too. Those were some awesome days of team basketball, not just individuals building up scoring stats. Like you said, long shots counted as two points just like a layup.

Just subscribed to your channel. I love your breakdown. Your respect and thoughtfulness to the players is great. In a world full of hot takes this is very refreshing. Looking forward to watching your videos.

Two of the best guards to ever play the game. Saying who was better is a bit like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder.

Dr J put them both Robertson and West in his starting all-time backcourt. Which seems to settle the question very nicely.

Good over view. It demonstrates too number one's.

Jerry was my boyhood idol.

Saw them both and it's difficult for me to pick one over the other. If I needed just one game I'd pick Oscar.

Do you have any videos of West against Earl the Pearl Monroe..Mr Clutch / The Logo against Black Jesus!

Thanks buddy

Looking at statistics is great, but Jerry West has always stated that Oscar was the better player.

no sane person thinks West was better than the Big O

I was a Big O fan especially when he won with the Bucks. Time has told me that West was better. Clutchest player of his time.

Most of the people on this page did not live thru & see all the NBA basketball that I saw. When these guys played during the golden era of the NBA (1960s) nobody outside of LA thought West was the equal of Oscar. In fact, very few informed people even thought anyone was superior to the Big O. Few people now know very much about how good Oscar was in college which put him on a different level than anyone during that time. He was a 3-time national scoring leader (freshman were ineligible at that time) & 3-time consensus national POY. However, playing for a program (Cincinnati) which previously had never at any time been ranked in the top 10 or ever played a post season game, he led them to a 3 year record of 78-9 with final rankings of 2, 5, & 1. He is still the only player to ever lead the nation in scoring & lead his team to the final 4 in the same season twice. In his rookie season Oscar led the NBA in assists at 9.7 PG, & put up these season numbers: 30.5 PPG, 10.1 RPG, .473 FG%, .822 FT% while improving his team's win total from the previous season by 14. West was an all-time great 2-way player but at no time during his career was he ever as good as Oscar in his prime, nor was anyone else during that era.

10:57 Not to knock Jerry's opponents - but that 1969 Celtics team had 2 Hall of Fame players in their *LAST* season in the league (Bill and Sam) and Don Nelson *DID NOT MAKE THE HALL AS A PLAYER* (he made the Hall as the AT THE TIME "most wins NBA coach ever") - so only 4 that season. On the other hand, Jerry only had Wilt and Elgin as fellow HoF players with him that season.

great comparison and agree close but go with West for same reason of playoff greatness despite people at the time leaning towards Oscar in his peak.

David Thompson also Break West's record of most point scored by a guard with 73. He was listed shooting guard but could slide to small forward position. So the question is what position he played when he breaks the record ?

Good vid. I personally have them equal...maybe West by a whisker, but they played different positions. Next to Elgin Baylor, The Big O may be the most least talked about superstar in NBA history. There literally wasn't anything he couldn't do! Although the humbleness of West (he did say Oscar was the best guard he ever played against) means that they're equal! LOL... they're both top 10 all-time players in my opinion.

Spot on!!!

You can’t help but to feel bad for jerry being good enough to make the finals so many times but constantly losing to a Celtics team that clearly hee the better more stacked team. Makes you wonder how many jerry could have won had the Celtics and bill Russell not existed dominating the league for a solid decade or more

I have to use common sense.If West had played in the Eastern conference and had to go through Russell and Chamberlain he would have never played in an NBA finals.

Both were great players. Oscar was a good defensive player but matched up with the 2 or 3 players on defense. Great rebounder for 6’5. Offense went through the Big O while west had other ball handlers ( Clark, Goodrich, Hazzard and Baylor) Lucas was a stud in the NBA. Led all forward in rebounding and was a good team and individual defender. Adrian Smith may have been the best pure shooter playing opposite Oscar. I loved to watch both play.

This is one example of how good Oscar was. Seasons at least 50Gs. At least: 30.0 PPG 6X; 10.0 APG 5X; 10.0 RPG 3X; .500 FG% 3X; .850 FT% 4X. All other players in NBA history have at least TWO 0X among these 5 category levels.

There's two players that can say hold my beer Michael.

If you asked humble Jerry West, he would tell you that Oscar Robertson was the greatest guard in those days, but I saw them head-to-head many times against each other, and West could frustrate Oscar when West played defense on the Big "O". Jerry had extremely long arms, and he could block shots from behind better than anyone ever, and he could also do it against Oscar, who was 2 inches taller, and was more physically gifted. Both had complete basketball skills, but I would say that Jerry's defense gave him a slight edge over Oscar, who was probably the most gifted basketball player of that era. I think West also had a much deeper understanding of the basketball game than anyone in the league. He seemed to know what was going to happen based on how things developed during a game, and he had a very tactical mind. The factors involved about why the Lakers often came up short against Boston perennially, I would say, would be their lack of a quality Center until Wilt, and the fragility of their superstar Elgin Baylor's knees; and don't forget that Elgin was in the Army for 2 years! West often had to carry a big load, and sometimes with protective hardware on his often broken nose. The biggest asset of West was his driving competitiveness. He was tougher on himself than any coach could be. Any loss could drive him into recriminations of his performance, going over a lost game in replays in his mind; and then he would go to the gym and work, work, work; It contributed to his life-long depression, which he has also battled. But everyone knows How Jerry is one of the most beloved men in sports history. Basketball players love to be noticed by, and interact with, Mr. Clutch. Sometimes, though, if you watch old film, you can see players dribbling with their hand on the very top of the ball and it looks like they weren't as good ball handlers; it looks primitive, but the old rules were the cause of it. You couldn't dribble the ball by directing it from side, or bottom - so don't let that fool you about what they could perform. Those players could do those things in pick-up games; I've seen it. I'm not selling Oscar short here. I was just commenting on games where they played against each other. West knew Oscar had an awesome game and that he was more powerful, and could do just about anything to help his team win - but that's exactly what caused Jerry to psych himself up for a big performance. (As a side note, I'm really surprised at the things Pete Maravich could do with a ball under the same rules in an actual game - think what he would be able to do if he could get away with what guards do now - and he had half a heart his whole basketball life.)

In their day they were both awesome. It would be like picking between MJ or Kobe. Can’t go wrong with either. West probably played on better teams, with Wilt and Elgin Baylor.

I saw them both play. They're different players. West was like Jordan and Kobe and Oscar was like LeBron. I can tell you this. When I started playing basketball in 1968, I wore #44.

west was my favorite player growing up, but i'd take either one. how about both on the same team???

Scotty Pippen saw them both play early in their careers and said they were horrible.

As a person who actually saw them play in the 60's and 70's, they were by far the top two guards in the NBA. Oscar was number 1 and Jerry a close second. Oscar was a better all-around player because he was clearly a better passer, rebounder and slightly better defender. Jerry was a slightly better shooter due to having more range. The one area Jerry was clearly better is that until Jordan came along, West was the greatest playoff scorer in NBA history. That's why he was called "Mr. Clutch".

The last category west had the better players to play with

Jerry.

They're close but I give West the edge for his perimeter defense and shooting

While the Russell Celtics tormented West in the Finals, they kept Oscar out of the Finals. Also, Jerry and "O" were the co-captains of the great USA Olympic team in 1960, but neither was the MVP of the team. That honor went to Jerry Lucas, for shooting 83 per cent from the field ( 5/6 every game).

Nice video, I would say Oscar is the better PG and West is the better 2 guard (scorer)...

Great Analysis, regardless of who we think is better both Oscar Robertson & Jerry West have become far to under appreciated & disrespected.