NBA family mourns the passing of Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Pettit, a two-time NBA MVP and a member of all four NBA Anniversary Teams.
Bob Pettit, the legendary first recipient of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and the pioneer who scored over 20,000 career points, has sadly passed away at the age of 93.
An 11-time All-Star, Pettit retired as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. He famously led the St. Louis Hawks to their only NBA championship in 1958, triumphing over the Boston Celtics in a nail-biting Game 6 where he scored an impressive 50 points, sealing the victory at 110-109. The Hawks, now known as the Atlanta Hawks, have yet to capture another championship since that historic win.
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Pettit earned the MVP title in both 1956 and 1959. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971, he was celebrated as a “true giant of the game,” recognized for being a “sleek, skilled big man who transformed the forward position during his time.”
In a heartfelt statement, the NBA remarked, “He raised the bar for excellence as the league’s first MVP, first 20,000-point scorer, and first four-time All-Star Game MVP.”
Louisiana State University, where Pettit honed his skills, announced his passing on Thursday, revealing he had died a day earlier. The university expressed that Pettit “defined what the modern power forward should be in the NBA and set standards that have been hard to duplicate in professional basketball.”
They also pointed out that many of Pettit’s achievements might not be as well-known today, as “his career began at a time when television was still limited, and film preservation of athletic events was haphazard at best.”
Standing at 6-foot-9 and weighing 205 pounds, Pettit was a formidable presence at power forward long before the term became commonplace in basketball. He was known for his durability, rarely missing games, and he also played center, being one of the first big men to step away from the traditional back-to-the-basket style of play.
Pettit was named Rookie of the Year in 1955, the final season the Hawks played in Milwaukee before relocating to St. Louis. The following season, he captured the MVP award, leading the league with an average of 25.7 points per game, and he topped the scoring charts again in 1959 with an impressive 29.2 points per game.
He retired after the 1964-65 season with career averages of 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds. At that time, he was the NBA’s career leader in points (20,880) and second in rebounds (12,849).
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971.
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