 Pettit with the St. Louis Hawks in 1961 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 12, 1932 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) |
| College | LSU (1951–1954) |
| NBA draft | 1954: 1st round, 2nd overall pick |
| Selected by the Milwaukee Hawks | |
| Playing career | 1954–1965 |
| Position | Power forward / center |
| Number | 9 |
| Career history | |
| 1954–1965 | Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points[1] | 20,880 (26.4 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 12,849 (16.2 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,369 (3.0 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr. (/ˈpɛtɪt/ PET-it; born December 12, 1932)[2] is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award and he won the award again in 1959. He also won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award four times. As of the end of 2023-2024 regular season, Pettit is still the only regular season MVP in the history of the Hawks. Pettit is the leader for most career rebounds (12,849), and most rebounds per game with 16.2 in Hawks franchise history.
The first NBA player to score more than 20,000 points, Pettit was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. He is one of four players who was named to all four NBA anniversary teams and one of only two living members as of 2024 with Bob Cousy. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time.[3][4]
- ^ "Stats at NBA.com". Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
- ^ "Legends profile: Bob Pettit". NBA.com. August 23, 2017. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
- ^ "All-Time #NBArank: Duncan tops list of best power forwards ever". ESPN. January 15, 2016. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Top 10 power forwards in NBA history". Fox Sports. October 20, 2016. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.