Bob Pettit, the relentless power forward who became the NBA's first MVP and its original 20,000-point scorer, has died. He was 93. Pettit's alma mater, Louisiana State University, announced Thursday that he died a day earlier, per the AP. Drafted No. 2 by the Milwaukee Hawks in 1954, the 6-foot-9 Pettit won rookie of the year, collected two MVP awards (1956 and 1959), made the All-Star team in all 11 of his seasons, and averaged a towering 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds per game, the Athletic reports. "Bob Pettit was … one of the smartest forwards and one of the greatest forwards in the history of the game of basketball," fellow Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson once told NBA.com.
Raised in Baton Rouge and self-taught on a backyard hoop lit by a bedroom lamp, Pettit didn't pick up organized basketball until his junior year of high school, then dominated at LSU before jumping to a still-growing NBA. He led the Hawks—then in St. Louis—to their lone title in 1958 with a 50-point clincher against Bill Russell's Celtics, the only team to interrupt Boston's championship run that decade. "Probably as fierce a competitor as ever played," Russell once said of Pettit. "He knew what he was doing. As great as he was, he was always better under pressure."
Pettit was the All-Star Game's MVP four times, per ESPN, a mark equaled only by Kobe Bryant. Credited with helping define the modern power forward and early to adopt weight training, Pettit was especially proud of my rebounding. "Not Wilt, not Bill Russell, but good," he said. Pettit retired in 1965 and entered banking, leaving behind a résumé that still ranks among those of the league's most efficient and physical players. "My game was playing hard, rebounding and having my teammates set me up for a jump shot," he said. In 1970, Pettit was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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