Bob Pettit, 1932-2026
Updated: Sep 26
One of the greatest players in NBA history has passed away.
On Sept. 24, it was announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame that 11-time NBA All-Star, 1958 NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP Bob Pettit had passed away. He was 93.
Pettit, a Baton Rouge, La. native, stayed local for college, playing at Louisiana State University, where he was a three-time All-SEC player and two-time consensus All-American. Pettit led the SEC in points per game twice - as a sophomore (25.5) and junior (24.9). He was a second team All-American as a junior, averaging 24.9 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. As a senior, he was a first team All-American performer, posting 31.4 points per game (first in the NCAA) and 17.3 rebounds, first in the SEC. His career averages as a Tiger were 27.4 points and 14.4 rebounds.
With the first overall selection in the 1954 NBA Draft, the Baltimore Bullets selected Frank Selvy, who would become a two-time all-star. Pettit was drafted second by the Milwaukee Hawks.
Pettit was an all-star in each of his 11 NBA seasons, immediately making an impact as a rookie while coached by future New York Knicks title-winning head man Red Holzman, who coached him from 1954-57. As a first-season star, Pettit, in the campaign prior to the Hawks’ move to St. Louis, garnered All-NBA first team honors and Rookie of the Year, posting 20.4 points (40.7% shooting on 17.8 attempts) and 13.8 rebounds in 36.9 minutes per game, 72 games. From his second season of 1955-56 to 1960-61, Pettit won two MVP awards, two scoring titles and never finished lower than fourth in MVP voting.
Bob Pettit’s Top 4 MVP Finishes
1955-56: 25.7 points (42.9% FG; 9.0 FGM and 20.9 FGA both 1st in NBA), 16.2 rebounds, 38.8 minutes, 72 games, 1st team All-NBA, MVP
1956-57: 24.7 points (41.5% FG; 8.6 FGM and 20.8 FGA both 1st in NBA), 14.6 rebounds, 35.1 minutes, 71 games, 1st team All-NBA, 2nd in MVP voting
1957-58: 24.6 points (41.0% FG, 20.3 FGA), 17.4 rebounds, 36.1 minutes per game, 70 games, 1st team All-NBA, 4th in MVP voting
1958-59: 29.2 points (43.8% FG, 22.8 FGA), 16.4 rebounds, 39.9 minutes, 72 games. Led NBA in scoring, FTM (9.3), FTA (10.2), FGM (10.0), and games (72), 1st team All-NBA, MVP
1959-60: 26.1 points (43.8% FG, 21.2 FGA), 17.0 rebounds, 40.2 minutes, 72 games, 1st team All-NBA, 3rd in MVP
1960-61: 27.9 points (44.7% FG, 22.6 FGA), 20.3 rebounds (career-high), 39.8 minutes, 76 games, 1st team All-NBA, 2nd in MVP
From 1955-1961, the Hawks made the playoffs, winning 33, 34, 41, 49, 46, and 51 games. Pettit took his teams to four NBA Finals, losing in 1957, 1960, and 1961 and winning in 1958. In the 1957 Finals, he averaged 30.1 points and 18.3 rebounds per game. He posted an average of 29.3 points and 17.0 rebounds in the 1958 Finals, and in the 1960 and 1961 series’ put up 25.7 points and 14.9 rebounds and 28.4 points and 16.4 rebounds.
In his final four seasons, Pettit scored 7,984 regular season points, including a career-high average of 31.1 points (45.0% on 24.7 shots), with 18.7 rebounds in 1961-62. That season, Pettit played in 78 games and also played in a career-high 42.1 minutes per game, and finished sixth in MVP voting. While averaging 28.4 points per game in 1962-63, Pettit led the NBA in free-throws made per game (8.7). He also averaged 15.1 rebounds that season, and placed fourth in MVP voting. In 1963-64, Pettit again finished fourth in MVP voting, averaging 27.4 points (46.3% shooting on 21.4 shots) and 15.3 rebounds per game in 41.2 minutes in a career-high 80 games. In his final season of 1964-65, he averaged 22.5 points (42.9% on 18.5 shots) and 12.4 rebounds in 35.1 minutes, 50 games, and was named to the All-NBA second team.
Pettit played 792 games in 11 seasons, with career averages of 26.4 points (43.6% shooting on 21.3 shots) and 16.2 rebounds in 38.8 minutes per game. He was a four-time MVP of the All-Star Game, in 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1962. In 88 career playoff games, he averaged 25.5 points and 14.8 rebounds. His best playoff performance came in Game 7 of the 1958 NBA Finals against Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics. In that game, a 110-109 win, Pettit poured in 50 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in 42 minutes, making 19-of-34 shots and 12-of-15 from the free-throw line. Those 50 points in the clincher were later tied by Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals for the most points in an NBA Finals clincher, with the Greek Freak leading his Milwaukee Bucks over the Phoenix Suns. Pettit, in Game 6 of the 1958 series, registered 33 points and 21 rebounds in 40 minutes, connecting on 19-of-24 from the line in the Hawks' 102-100 win. He posted 30 points and 19 rebounds in Game 1, and 32 points and 19 rebounds in Game 3. Thirty-three times in his playoff career, Pettit scored 30 or more points. Eight times in the postseason, he posted at least 30 points and 20 rebounds.
Pettit scored 41 points (14-of-24 from the field, 13-of-19 from the line) in his third ever postseason game on March 21, 1956, a 116-115 win over the Minneapolis Lakers. He also registered 32 points (16-of-22 from the line), 23 rebounds, and 5 assists in a 96-94 win on April 11, 1957 against the Boston Celtics. In the next game, a 125-123 double-overtime loss on April 13, 1957, he posted 39 points (14-of-34, 11-of-13 from the line), and 19 rebounds.
In Game 2 of the 1960 Finals against the Celtics, Pettit registered 35 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 assists. In Game 4 of the 1961 Western Division Finals against the Lakers, Pettit in 48 minutes made 15-of-26 shots and 10-of-14 from the line for 40 points with 18 rebounds. He also registered 40 and 18 in Game 4 of the 1961 Finals against the Celtics, making 14-of-23 shots and 12-of-12 from the line in 46 minutes. His line in Game 2 of the 1963 Western Division Semifinals against the Detroit Pistons was 42 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 assists on 16-of-30 shooting and 10-of-11 from the line in 45 minutes. In his next to last playoff series - the 1964 Western Division Finals against the San Francisco Warriors - Pettit posted six double-doubles in the seven game series against Wilt Chamberlain and the Warriors.
Pettit’s 26.4 points per game for his career is 10th all-time. His 16.2 rebounds per game average is third all-time, behind Chamberlain and Russell.
A member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (1993, 2007), Pettit was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.
The NBA’s first MVP (1956), Pettit also claimed to be the first NBA player to lift weights, recalls Hall of Fame columnist Peter Vecsey. Says the legendary writer, “He (Pettit) said that Holzman told him when he was a rookie that if he didn’t start knocking people around, he’d be sitting on the bench.”
Pettit, one of the NBA’s greatest forwards and one of the best players during both his time and all-time, surely made certain throughout his career that he was on no head coach’s bench. He was the forerunner to the power forwards that would come later on. A true NBA original.
RIP to a basketball pioneer and legend.
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