All Things Basketball with GD - Week 10 Player Spotlight, Bob Pettit

Bob Pettit: 6'9", 205 lb (00:29)

Played some center but mostly a power forward

Born in Baton Rouge, LA on Dec 12, 1932

Son of a county sheriff who comes from a modest upbringing

Attended Baton Rouge HS; was cut from his varsity team twice

His dad built him a hoop set in their backyard so he could practice his shooting

Growing to 6'4" he tried out again as a junior & made the team; incorporated a rigid practice regime

Made the All-City prep team as a junior; led his HS team to its 1st state title in 20 years as a senior

Received scholarship letters from up to 14 universities; chose to stay close to home by attending LSU

Had a stellar career at LSU with a 27.4 PPG & 14.6 RPG; team had a 59-15 record

Was a 3 time All-SEC, 2 time All-American & only the 2nd 30 or more PPG scorer in college history (the other player: Frank Selvy of Furman University at 41.7 PPG)

Became the 1st LSU Tiger to have a jersey retired in any sport; inducted into their Hall of Fame

Was drafted 2nd overall in 1954 draft with the Milwaukee Hawks (1st overall pick: Selvy, Baltimore Bullets)

With only $100 in his bank account he signs a $11,000 contract

Established himself early as a big man who doesn't have to play with his back to the basket

Many weren't sure how we would hold up against the big men of his day because of his gangly built

Won Rookie of the Year & made both the All Star game & All-NBA in that same season with a 20.4 PPG & 13.8 RPG)

Owner Ben Kerner moved the team to St Louis; led the league in scoring after his sophomore season with a 25.7 PPG average & 16.2 RPG

Won the 1st ever MVP award & named All Star game MVP that season

STL undergoes a major overhaul in the offseason; traded the draft rights for Bill Russell to BOS for Ed Macauley & rookie Cliff Hagan; also added Slater Martin & Alex Hannum

In 1956-57 his team finished 34-38 but got all the way to the Finals only to lose to BOS in a grueling 7 game series

In 1957-58 Hannum became the full time head coach of STL; set Bob to play strictly as a PF after 2 seasons at C

Team finished 41-31 as he had 24.6 PPG & 17.4 RPG; defeated both DET & BOS to capture a NBA title

Dropped 50 pts & 19 rebs in the deciding Game 6 to clinch that title; Giannis Antetokounmpo became the 2nd player to score 50 in a deciding game last season

Bob's teams followed their title season with 3 more seasons atop the conference but couldn't capture another title

His 29.2 PPG led the league & was the highest average ever at that time; won 2nd league MVP that season

In 1960-61 he became one of 5 players to average 20 or more RPG in a season; one of 3 players to average 20 or more PPG & RPG with 27.9 & 20.3 respectively

The following season he finished with 31.1 PPG (3rd in the league) & 18.7 RPG (4th) but team had only a 29-51 record; Kerner turned to Bob to coach the final 6 games

Kerner hired former Knick Harry "the Horse" Gallatin as the coach for Bob's last 3 seasons; made the playoffs 2 of the 3 but again couldn't reach the Finals

His final season was riddled with knee issues which allowed him to play only 50 games (22.5 PPG & 12.4 RPG

Retired after the 1964-65 season at age 32

Went into the banking industry where he worked for 23 years; became a financial consultant soon after & retired in 2006

Finished his career as the NBA's leading scorer all time & 2nd in rebounds all time

Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (1970)

11 time All Star & All-NBA (10 times 1st team), 2 time MVP, 4 time All Star MVP, 2 time scoring champ, 1 rebound champ, 1 NBA champ

Named to the 25th, 35th, 50th & 75th Anniversary Team

Never averaged under 20 PPG or 12 RPG in a season

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