Lakers Superstar Admits That Fellow Lottery Pick Was Far More Developed As A Rookie

But who ultimately enjoyed the stronger pro career?

Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Jerry West was selected by LA with the No. 2 pick out of West Virginia in the 1960 draft, and he spent a lot of the early stages of his career measuring his relative NBA aptitude against the player chosen ahead of him: his 1960 Olympic teammate Oscar Robertson, the triple-double machine selected first by the Cincinnati Royals as a territorial selection out of the University of Cincinnati.

Robertson, the 1964 MVP, was a 12-time NBA All-Star and an 11-time All-NBA selection (including nine First Team honors). He won a championship with eventual Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar while on the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks, and would appear in a second NBA Finals in '74 before retiring. He won the 1961 Rookie of the Year award over West. The 6'5" super-athlete was a relentless force, and one of the all-time best passers in the history of the game.

Though West was an excellent playmaker as well, he was not at The Big O's level. A terrific scorer, he helped lead Los Angeles to nine NBA Finals appearances, winning a year after his most direct rival, alongside fellow LA luminaries Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.

West, a 14-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA honoree (including 10 First Team picks), and the 1969 Finals MVP, recently spoke with Dan Patrick on his eponymous show to discuss his relationship with Robertson.

"Well I'd like to think there was [a competition between himself and Robinson]. When I first started in the league, he was so much more advanced than me. I think that by playing in the Olympic Games together, it probably showed me that I had a way to go in terms of maybe [getting] to where I could be considered maybe his equal," West said. 

"But his route there was [very] different," West noted. "He's from Indianapolis, he played there, he had a lot of great competition so I didn't see that kind of competition, certainly not in college. So he's still one of the players whom I most admire... from my time [in] the NBA."

Ultimately, the legacy of both Hall of Famers is secure. They're handily two of the greatest guards in the history of the league, and West certainly held his own when all the dust on their careers had settled.

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