Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson will be honored with the NBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the NBA Awards on June 25.
Robertson, the career leader with 181 triple-doubles and the first player to average one for a season, was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1961, MVP in 1964 and won a championship with Milwaukee in 1971. The guard was a nine-time selection to the All-NBA first team and was voted one of the league’s 50 greatest players.
He also was co-captain of the 1960 U.S. team that won an Olympic gold medal and led Crispus Attucks High School to consecutive Indiana state championships, the first all African-American team in the nation to win a state title.
Robertson also was president of the National Basketball Players Association from 1965-74, and the settlement of his anti-trust lawsuit against the NBA — known as the Oscar Robertson Rule — ushered in free agency in the league, Espn reports.
Bill Russell won the award last year in the first season of the awards show, which will be held in Santa Monica, California and be televised by TNT. The winner of the NBA’s MVP and other individual awards will be presented.
