There are players who leave their stamp on the sport of basketball and then there are those who become synonymous with the sport itself. The NBA world lost a quintessential legend on Wednesday. Bob Pettit, 93, was one of the earliest superstars of the game. In 1954, the LSU standout was drafted second overall by the Milwaukee Hawks. He was named 1955 Rookie of the Year.
He and the Hawks made a move to St. Louis that summer and the following season he was named the league’s inaugural Most Valuable
Player, an honor he picked up again three years later.
In 1958, Pettit and the Hawks won their only NBA championship, though Pettit appeared in four NBA Finals series during his career. He garnered eleven All-Star appearances, every season of his career, and was the league’s scoring champion in 1956 and 1959, the same years he was named MVP.
Pettit holds the top two NBA All-Star Game rebounding performances – 26 in 1958 and 27 in 1962 as well as the second-highest All-Star Game points per game average. Pettit averaged over 20 points and 12 rebounds per game in each of his eleven seasons. Pettit is the only retired player in NBA history (with more than two seasons) to average more than 20 points per game in every season they’ve played.
He was the first NBA player to hit the 20,000 point mark. And in 1970, Pettit was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Pettit, along with Bob Cousy, George Mikan, and Bill Russell is one of four players who was named to all four NBA anniversary teams.
Pettit’s #9 was retired by the Hawks, one of only five players in the franchise history.
Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.
Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.
