Bob Pettit, Pro Basketball Hall of Famer and two-time MVP, dies at 93 - USA Today
Hall of Famer Bob Pettit, the first NBA player to reach 20,000 points and one of five players to make the All-Star team in each season of his career, died Wednesday, Sept. 23. He was 93.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Pettit's passing in a post on social media, but did not provide any additional details. A cause of death has not yet been revealed.
"The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame mourns the passing of Bob Pettit, a sleek, skilled big man who revolutionized the forward position during his career," the post read. "The 11-time NBA All-Star and 2-time MVP retired as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history and left an enduring legacy. He led the St. Louis Hawks to the 1958 NBA championship over the Boston Celtics. The Basketball Hall of Fame salutes this true giant of the game."
During his 11-year career with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks, Pettit won Rookie of the Year in 1955 and MVP in 1956, the first time the award was ever furnished, and 1959.
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native was named to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team and is one of four players to make all four NBA anniversary teams — 25th, 35th, 50th and 75th.
He was also one of five players in NBA history to make an All-Star team every season of his career, joining Paul Arizin, Jerry West, Julius Erving and Yao Ming. Pettit was also voted All-Star Game MVP a record four times.
Pettit averaged 26.4 points per game in his career and is the Hawks' all-time leader in rebounds (12,849). His career 16.2 rebounds per game is the third highest in league history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. He also is the franchise leader in free throws made and attempts.
Pettit is also among the Top 3 in franchise history in career games played, field goals, assists and triple-doubles.
Pettit became the first NBA player to score 20,000 points on Nov. 13, 1964, and won his lone NBA championship in 1958. He entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.
Pettit played college basketball for LSU and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1954.
Pettit helped the Tigers reach the 1953 NCAA Final Four. He was named an All-American in 1953 and 1954 before being drafted with the No. 2 overall pick by the Milwaukee Hawks in 1954. LSU retired his jersey the same year, the first Tigers' jersey retired in any sport.
Pettit was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1973 and in February 2016, he was was honored with a statue on the basketball plaza of the Maravich Center at LSU.
LSUsports.net recounts how Pettit was not an immediate basketball star as a teenager, and as a sophomore at Baton Rouge High School, he was cut from the varsity team. By the time he was a senior, he had led Baton Rouge High to its first state championship in more than 20 years and received offers from numerous colleges, including hometown LSU.
“I never played basketball until I was … a junior in high school,” Pettit once told NBA.com. “I practiced at night with a lamp in the window in my back bedroom, shooting baskets hour after hour. I just learned trial-and-error. Repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. Finally, I learned something.”
