NBA Hall of Famer Bob Pettit dies at 93

Bob Pettit, the NBA's first Most Valuable Player and one of professional basketball's foundational figures, died Wednesday, September 23, at his home in Metairie, Louisiana. He was 93.

Pettit's 11-season career with the Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks redefined how the forward position could be played. According to CBS Sports reporting, he was a 6-foot-9 scorer and rebounder who retired as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, becoming the first player to surpass 20,000 points.

He won MVP awards in back-to-back seasons: 1955-56, when he averaged 25.7 points per game, and 1958-59, when he averaged 29.2 points per game, per CBS Sports. Pettit earned an All-Star selection in each of his 11 seasons, a distinction matched by no one else during his era. He was also a four-time All-Star Game MVP, a feat equaled only by Kobe Bryant, and a 10-time All-NBA honoree. In 1955, he was named the NBA's Rookie of the Year.

Pettit led the Hawks to four NBA Finals appearances and captured the 1958 championship over the Boston Celtics. In that Finals series, according to BBC Sport, he scored 50 points in a single game to secure the title. For his career, he averaged 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds per game. The Basketball Hall of Fame inducted him in 1971, and he was named to the league's 25th, 35th, 50th, and 75th-anniversary all-time teams.

Before his NBA career, Pettit starred at Louisiana State University, where he was a three-time All-SEC selection and two-time All-American. In his senior season in 1953-54, according to CBS Sports, he averaged 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds per game and led LSU to an SEC title. His 31.4 points per game stood as an SEC single-season record until Pete Maravich broke it in 1968, averaging 43.8 points per game. Pettit was the No. 2 pick in the 1954 NBA Draft. LSU retired his No. 50 jersey in 1954, making him the first athlete in the university's history to receive that honor, per BBC Sport.