Triple-double kings Robertson and Kidd cared about winning, not stats
ST. FRANCIS, Wis. -- After one of Jason Kidd's five career triple-doubles against the Bucks, a fan approached the color commentator for Milwaukee's television broadcast that night to ask if he could believe what the New Jersey point guard just did on the court.
Little did he know he was speaking to Oscar Robertson.
"I heard that story when I got (to Milwaukee)," Kidd said. "It must have been dark or they didn't know who they were talking to when they asked the question. But when you ask Oscar Robertson if he can believe someone can get a triple-double and you didn't know you were asking a guy who did it for a whole season and for most of his career, that's embarrassing."
On a Sunday afternoon, mere hours after the Bucks dropped a triple-overtime game in Brooklyn, two of the greatest point guards ever to play basketball sat side by side in the players' lounge of the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Training Center.
For 45 minutes, Kidd and Robertson discussed a wide variety of topics for a television special to be aired on FOX Sports Wisconsin.
"No, that shouldn't have been embarrassing," Robertson said to Kidd about the fan who didn't know who he was. "I didn't even know I was doing these things. I thought everybody was playing the same way."
Robertson recorded an NBA-record 181 triple-doubles over his 14-year career, including averaging one over the entire 1961-62 season (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 11.4 assists) for Cincinnati.
But he didn't know what he was accomplishing at the time. The term "triple-double" was not around when Robertson played in the NBA from 1960-74.
"You were just trying to win basketball games," Robertson said. "I had a transition. As a freshman (in high school) I was 5-foot-8 and I grew about six or seven inches. Then I went inside and played inside in high school before going back to guard. In college the coach put me at forward.
"It was a different type of attitude about blocking out and rebounding. My coach told me, 'I don't care if that guy is 6-10. You get him off the boards. Get him out of there. Don't let him touch the ball.' I just learned to play that way. I thought everybody did the same thing. I didn't realize what I was doing. They didn't keep stats."
Kidd first became aware of what a triple-double was while growing up in California watching his childhood idol Magic Johnson play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
His curiosity led him to research triple-doubles in a historical context. That led the current Bucks coach to one name.
"You have to see who came before Magic," Kidd said. "Well, Oscar is right there. Then you start hearing stories about averaging a triple-double for the entire season.
"You had one in college and you think, 'Man, someone had one for the whole season. That's impossible.' That's why he's the best at his position."
Only three players -- Robertson (181), Johnson (138) and Kidd (107) -- have more than 100 career triple-doubles. Wilt Chamberlain is fourth all-time with 78, while Larry Bird (59) is the only other player to record more than 50.
Led by LeBron James' 38, only six active players have more than 10 triple-doubles in their careers. Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook recorded 11 triple-doubles during the 2014-15 season, becoming the first player with more than 10 in one year since Kidd in 2007-08.
"When you are looking at today's players that are achieving triple-doubles, they keep it simple but they see it in that lens of helping your team," Kidd said.
To Kidd, the most important part of the triple-double to guards is rebounding.
"Most guards aren't known as rebounders," Kidd said. "We were just known as guys starting the offense. You let the bigs get the rebound and their job was to throw it to the guards. Any time you are able to help your team by rebounding, I thought it led to an easy 2 or an easy 3."
"That's true," Robertson interjected. "But in order for guards to get rebounds, you have to have guys boxing out. You have to keep (Bill) Russell off the glass. Wilt (Chamberlain) had 55 rebounds in a game. Can you imagine that? You have to keep those guys off the boards. To me (rebounding) is a simple thing. It is just fundamental basketball to me."
When he came to the Bucks in a 1970 trade that sent Charlie Paulk and Flynn Robinson to Cincinnati, Robertson had to sacrifice personal numbers to join a championship-caliber team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Bucks won 248 games in Robertson's four seasons in Milwaukee, including the 1971 NBA Championship.
"We were not a very good team at first," Robertson said of the Bucks. "I made some choices where I wouldn't try to score as much. I've always felt this. Your weakest man has to contribute something in points to win. I tried to do that. I tried to get the guy who couldn't score around 10 or 12 points per game. It worked out fine for us."
"That's incredible," Kidd said. "We need that more."
Robertson was naive to what he was doing on the court and was just focused on doing what he could to help Cincinnati or Milwaukee win games.
While the triple-double was known around basketball by the time Kidd began his 19-year career in 1994, the future Hall of Famer didn't like when teammates or coaches would make him aware of how close he was to one.
The two not only combined for 288 career triple-doubles but also collectively appeared in the playoffs 27 times.
"Stats for some were important, but the biggest stat I wanted was the 'W,'" Kidd said. "I only thought about winning. When I played the game of basketball, my job was to leave the court -- playground, high school, college or pros -- I was more concerned about winning. That was the most important stat."
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