[1] Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Roberson played basketball at Mitchell High School, from which he graduated in 1965.

Roberson said he had a chance to be the first African-American basketball player at Memphis State, but he chose to attend the University of Cincinnati.

[5] Roberson's 10 blocks remains a Cincinnati single-game record, tied two years later by his Bearcats teammate Jim Ard as well as by Eric Hicks and Martin.

[7] With Wilt Chamberlain limited to 12 games due to a knee injury, Roberson helped shore up the Lakers' front line and he saw significant playing time.

In the playoffs, the Lakers would reach the Western Conference Finals, but ultimately lose in five games to the Milwaukee Bucks.

[12] The following season, 1972–73, his stat line was much the same although he primarily again played center as he averaged 12.6 ppg and 11.2 rpg with a career-best 2.2 assists per game.

An early-season article in Sports Illustrated stated of Roberson, "Despite being one of the NBA's shortest centers, and perhaps its lightest, he has been the Blazer most responsible for the team's turnabout.

With Roberson on full-time duty, the Blazers are 5-1, the only loss coming last week against the streaking Bulls, who made Portland their 11th straight victim.

No center has scored more than 14 points against Roberson, and more important, his Dave Cowens-like quickness and agility at stepping out from the middle and pop-switching on smaller, supposedly faster men have allowed the Blazers to employ an aggressive switching defense.

'I'd be bulljiving myself if I thought I could stand in the middle and block a lot of shots the way the real big dudes do,' says Roberson.