Past v. present, is perhaps, a never-ending debate. Some fans, rather strongly, believe that the players from the pre-90s era would not survive on today’s courts. Many, meanwhile, think they would’ve ‘killed it’ instead; thanks to the ‘softer rules’ of the present. Based on his recent comments on Oscar Robertson, Jason Williams, formerly of the Memphis Grizzlies, seems to gravitate toward the current bunch.

As per the post by NBA Central, crediting ‘All the Smoke’, Williams believes the players from the past were great but the game has now evolved and changed in ways he could not have previously imagined. “It’s hard to compare these players too; they were all great in their own way, but, like, Oscar Robertson’s one of the greatest ever, correct? He can’t play today. That’s what I’m saying,” read the post.

League veteran Eddie A. Johnson, nevertheless, has completely dismissed Williams’ claims against Robertson. “Oscar would have probably made your career short! You have zero clue how good this man was. The game has evolved and it is still 2 baskets and 94 feet of butt-whooping between them,” Johnson posted on X in response.

Is there any substance to the Jason Williams-Oscar Robertson claim

It is worth mentioning that Robertson has been one of the best well-rounded players to grace the court. In fact, he is among the only two players in NBA history to average a triple-double in a season. The second name is Russell Westbrook, who achieved this feat in three different seasons. Notably, Robertson, in just his season of NBA career, averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game.

Apart from this, the former Cincinnati Royals star (now Sacramento Kings) also averaged more than 30 points per game for six seasons during his career. He closed his career with an impressive stat line of 25.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game. Robertson’s in-game prowess is only reiterated by the fact that Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar had ranked him above Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

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“LeBron is awesome, MJ was awesome. But I think Oscar Robertson would have kicked them both in the behind,” Abdul-Jabbar previously said. Notably, this came on ESPN’s ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd’ back in 2013. The former LA Lakers star praised Robertson for skills that helped him rebound and box out guys four and six inches taller than him. “He was ruggedly built. He had fluid, quickness, and just understood the game.”  Now, it is practically impossible to put Jason Williams’ claims to the test. However, if the good old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is to be believed, Robertson would not have had much problem adapting to today’s NBA.