Bob Pettit, NBA's First MVP and 20,000-Point Scorer, Dies at 93
The 11-time All-Star and two-time MVP retired as the league's all-time leading scorer, averaging 26.4 points and 16.2 boards for his career.
No fantasy action — a moment to honor the forward who built the modern power role.
- First NBA player to top 20,000 career points
- Career averages: 26.4 PPG, 16.2 RPG
- Two MVPs (1955-56, 1958-59), 11 All-Star nods
- Won 1958 title, beating the Celtics
- Four All-Star Game MVPs — matched only by Kobe
Bob Pettit, the first man to score 20,000 points in NBA history and the very first winner of the league's MVP award, died Wednesday, Sept. 23 at his home in Metairie, Louisiana, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced. He was 93. His family described him in a statement as a kind, humble and gentle man they'll miss dearly.
The numbers still hold up seven decades later. Across 11 NBA seasons with the Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks, Pettit averaged 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds per game, made the All-Star team every single year he played, and collected two MVP trophies — one in 1955-56, the first time the award was ever handed out, and another in 1959. He led the league in scoring both of those seasons, at 25.7 and 29.2 points respectively.
The 6-foot-9 forward wasn't just productive; he reshaped what a big man could be. Sleek and skilled at a time when frontcourt play was mostly brute force, Pettit dragged the forward position into a new era. He was Rookie of the Year in 1955, a 10-time All-NBA honoree, and a four-time All-Star Game MVP — a mark only Kobe Bryant has ever equaled.
The résumé stretches beyond individual hardware. Pettit carried the Hawks to four NBA Finals and delivered a 1958 championship at the expense of the Boston Celtics. The league later named him to its 25th, 35th, 50th and 75th-anniversary teams, and Springfield welcomed him with the Hall of Fame's class of 1971.
Before any of that, he was a phenomenon at LSU. A three-time All-SEC pick and two-time All-American, Pettit poured in 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds per game as a senior in 1953-54 while leading the Tigers to an SEC title. That scoring mark stood as a conference record until another LSU legend, Pete Maravich, torched it with 43.8 per game in 1968. The Hawks took Pettit No. 2 overall in the 1954 draft.
There's no fantasy verdict to render here — Pettit's last game predates our model by generations. But his fingerprints are all over the archetype we obsess over every draft season: the versatile scoring big who fills every column. When you're chasing a forward who racks up points and rebounds in bunches, you're chasing the blueprint Pettit drew up first. Today's a day to just tip the cap.
