Bob Pettit, Hall of Famer and former LSU great, passes away
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Bob Pettit, who was the first winner of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player and one of the most celebrated basketball players of his era, has passed away at the age of 93.
The Baton Rouge native was initially cut from his high school team, but he worked to improve with his father’s encouragement. He later landed back on the team, helping them win a state championship.
He stayed close to home and ended up playing at LSU, where he was a three-time All-SEC performer and led the conference in scoring for three straight seasons. Afterward, he was drafted second overall by the Milwaukee and later St. Louis Hawks, where he spent his entire professional career from 1954 to 1965. He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1955. In his second season, he averaged league-highs of 25.7 points and 16.2 rebounds to win the NBA’s first-ever MVP award. In 1957-58, he averaged 24.6 points and 17.4 rebounds while helping lead the Hawks to an NBA championship. Two seasons prior,
Pettit retired in 1965 as a two-time MVP, having been named an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons and an All-NBA first-team pick in every season but his last. He led the league in scoring twice. His No. 50 hangs in the rafters of LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center; his No. 9 was retired by the now-Atlanta Hawks and hangs in State Farm Arena.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
