Long before Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan, this strong winger dominated the NBA and posted exceptional statistics.
Bob Pettit grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Cut off twice by his high school, he worked on his game to finally finish his course in another establishment. He will win the title of his state, the first for more than 20 years. He continues his career still at home, at Louisiana State University where he averages 27.4 pts.
The first MVP in history
In 1954, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Hawks, which would later become the Saint Louis Hawks (the move to Atlanta would not happen until 1968). With a selection for the All-Star Game, a place in the first team of the season and the title of rookie of the year, he began his career very strongly and above all began a fine collection of trophies.
In 1956, he became the first MVP in NBA history. He doubled the bet in 1959. He was also the league’s leading scorer in 1957 and 1959. All-Star every year, without exception, he only missed the All-NBA Team in his last season in 1965.
Despite complicated regular seasons, the Hawks reached the Finals in 1957 against Bill Russell’s Celtics. A Russell, then a rookie, who could have played with Pettit but the Hawks had exchanged their draft picks for Boston players at the start of the season…
It is therefore the Celtics who will benefit from the impact of the best defender in history. Despite a “great” Pettit (29.8 points, 16.8 rebounds in the playoffs), Boston won the finish in Game 7 and won the title. The following year, the Hawks got their revenge and won the title.
Before that, Bob Pettit had won the title of MVP of the All-Star Game with a huge double-double (28 pts, 26 rbds). With Kobe Bryant, he is also still the all-star game MVP trophy record holder with four (1956, 1958, 1959 and 1962).
The third rebounder in history on average
Even if he was “only” 2m06, Bob Pettit was notably a great rebounder, a hard player, who was not afraid to go into the racket to give his team second chances.
“Bob has introduced the notion of “second chance” into sports dictionaries” explains Bill Russell. “He was coming at you like no one had before. He was fighting to get the positions and those rebounds. »
His knee began to creak in 1964, and at age 32, he decided to end his Hall of Fame career (he entered it in 1970) after 792 NBA games.
Note that he became the first player to score 20,000 career points and his statistics are quite enormous: 26.4 points, 16.2 rebounds per game! In his 11-year career, he has never had a season below 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Ultimate proof of his relentlessness in rebounding, his rebounding average is still the 3rd in history behind the monsters of the field, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.
Article originally published on December 12, 2021
