Happy 93rd Birthday, Bob Pettit

Photo: Bob Pettit shooting a free-throw against the Boston Celtics. Photo credit: Getty Images.

Cover photo: Bob Pettit against the Cincinnati Royals. Photo courtesy: Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

An NBA legend celebrates a birthday on Dec. 12 as Hall of Fame forward Bob Pettit turns 93. 

Pettit, a Baton Rouge, La. native, stayed local for college, playing at Louisiana State University, where he was a 3-time All-SEC player and 2-time consensus All-American. Pettit led the SEC in points per game as a sophomore (25.5) and junior (24.9). With 12.7 rebounds per game in his junior season adding to his 24.9 points, he was a 2nd team All-American. He was 1st team All-American as a senior, posting 31.4 points per game (1st 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. 

Frank Selvy, an eventual 2-time All-Star, was drafted first overall in the 1954 NBA Draft (Baltimore Bullets), and 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 in the season prior to the Hawks’ move to St. Louis. Pettit garnered 1st team All-NBA 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, won two scoring titles and never finished lower than fourth in MVP voting. 

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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

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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, Pettit 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. Pettit played 78 games that season and also played a career-high 42.1 minutes per game, and finished sixth in MVP voting. In scoring 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 2nd 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, Pettit 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. In Game 6 of the series, a 102-100 win, he registered 33 points and 21 rebounds in 40 minutes, connecting on 19-of-24 from the line. 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, he posted 39 points (14-of-34, 11-of-13 from the line), and 19 rebounds in the 125-123 double-overtime loss on April 13, 1957.

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. 42 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 assists was his line in Game 2 of the 1963 Western Division Semifinals against the Detroit Pistons, 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. 

Pettit, one of the NBA’s greatest forwards and certainly one its best players during his time, was the forerunner to the power forwards that would come later on. 

He is unquestionably a living legend. 

Happy 93rd birthday, Bob Pettit.