Bob Pettit won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award four times.
28 Facts About Bob Pettit
2.
The first NBA player to score more than 20,000 points, Bob Pettit was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.
3.
Bob Pettit is one of four players who was named to all four NBA anniversary teams and one of only two living members as of 2023 with Bob Cousy.
4.
Bob Pettit is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time.
5.
Bob Pettit played church league basketball as a sophomore and grew five inches in less than a year.
6.
Bob Pettit was a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and a two-time All-American as a member of the LSU men's basketball team.
7.
Bob Pettit was a member of the Zeta Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon at LSU.
8.
Bob Pettit led the SEC in scoring for his first of three consecutive seasons, averaging 25.5 points per game.
9.
Bob Pettit averaged 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds per game for the 1953 season.
10.
Bob Pettit was honored with selections to both the All-SEC and All-American teams.
11.
Bob Pettit averaged 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds per game during his senior year and led LSU to an SEC Championship and garnered All-SEC and All-American honors.
12.
Bob Pettit set a then-SEC scoring record of 60 points against Louisiana College in his second game, and the SEC record for scoring average, with both records being broken by Pete Maravich.
13.
Bob Pettit was the second player in major-college basketball history to average more than 30 points a game.
14.
Bob Pettit was the first Tiger athlete in any sport to receive this distinction.
15.
Bob Pettit became the second rookie to win all-NBA honors but the team finished last in the Western Division.
16.
Bob Pettit was named MVP of the 1956 NBA All-Star Game after scoring 20 points with 24 rebounds and 7 assists; he would win subsequent MVP All-Star Game honors in 1958,1959, and 1962.
17.
Bob Pettit won his first of two NBA regular season MVP awards.
18.
In Game 1 of the 1957 NBA Finals at the Boston Garden, Bob Pettit scored 37 points as the Hawks shocked the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics in double overtime.
19.
Bob Pettit won his team the third game in the series with a late basket in St Louis.
20.
Bob Pettit averaged 29.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game during their 1957 playoff run.
21.
Bob Pettit was the first NBA player to eclipse the 20,000 points mark.
22.
Bob Pettit was an NBA All-Star in each of his 11 seasons, was named to the All-NBA First Team ten times, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team once.
23.
Bob Pettit still holds the top two NBA All-Star Game rebounding performances with 26 in 1958 and 27 in 1962, and has the second-highest All-Star Game points per game average with 20.4.
24.
Bob Pettit averaged at least 20 points per game and at least 12 rebounds per game in each of his 11 NBA seasons.
25.
Bob Pettit never finished below seventh in the NBA scoring race and no other retired player in NBA history other than Pettit and Alex Groza has averaged more than 20 points per game in every season they've played.
26.
Bob Pettit is one of four players who was named to all four NBA anniversary teams, along with Bob Cousy, George Mikan, and Bill Russell.
27.
Bob Pettit worked in the banking industry in Baton Rouge and Metairie for 23 years before entering financial consulting in 1988.
28.
Bob Pettit was married to his wife Carole, who died in 2010, and has three children and 10 grandchildren.