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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 6:37 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Bob Pettit
Career at a glance
Bob Pettit played 11 NBA regular seasons between 1954 and 1965, appearing in 792 games and averaging 26.4 points, 16.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He played for 2 teams: Milwaukee (1954–55, 72 games), St. Louis (1955–65, 720 games). His best scoring season was 1961–62 with St. Louis: 31.1 points per game over 78 games.
He rebounded best in 1960–61 at 20.3 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in scoring twice, rebounding once. Championship season: 1957–58 (St. Louis).
In the playoffs he appeared in 9 postseason runs (88 games, 25.5 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 20,900 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total). Among the 404 players with at least 200 NBA games profiled on whynba, Pettit ranks No. 9 in points per game, No. 3 in rebounds per game.
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Bob Pettit
Robert Lee Pettit Jr. (/ˈpɛtɪt/PET-it; December 12, 1932 – September 23, 2026) was an American professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award and he won the award again in 1959. He also won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award four times. As of the end of the 2025–2026 regular season, Pettit is still the only regular season MVP in the history of the Hawks. Pettit is the Hawks' franchise leader for most career rebounds (12,849), and most rebounds per game with 16.2.
The first NBA player to score more than 20,000 points, Pettit was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. He is one of four players who was named to all four NBA anniversary teams. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time.
- Born
- December 12, 1932 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
- Listed weight
- 205 lb (93 kg)
- Position
- Power forward / center
- High school
- Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
- College
- LSU (1951–1954)
- NBA draft
- 1954: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
- Playing career
- 1954–1965
Career highlights and awards
- NBA champion (1958)
- 2× NBA Most Valuable Player (1956, 1959)
- 11× NBA All-Star (1955–1965)
- 4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1956, 1958, 1959, 1962)
- 10× All-NBA First Team (1955–1964)
- All-NBA Second Team (1965)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1955)
- 2× NBA scoring champion (1956, 1959)
- NBA rebounding leader (1956)
- NBA anniversary team (25th, 35th, 50th, 75th)
- No. 9 retired by Atlanta Hawks
- Consensus first-team All-American (1954)
- Consensus second-team All-American (1953)
- No. 50 retired by LSU Tigers
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954–55 | Milwaukee | 72 | 36.9 | .407 | .751 | 13.8 | 3.2 | 20.4 |
| 1955–56 | St. Louis | 72 | 38.8 | .429 | .736 | 16.2* | 2.6 | 25.7* |
| 1956–57 | St. Louis | 71 | 35.1 | .415 | .773 | 14.6 | 1.9 | 24.7 |
| 1957–58† | St. Louis | 70 | 36.1 | .410 | .749 | 17.4 | 2.2 | 24.6 |
| 1958–59 | St. Louis | 72* | 39.9 | .438 | .759 | 16.4 | 3.1 | 29.2* |
| 1959–60 | St. Louis | 72 | 40.2 | .438 | .753 | 17.0 | 3.6 | 26.1 |
| 1960–61 | St. Louis | 76 | 39.8 | .447 | .724 | 20.3 | 3.4 | 27.9 |
| 1961–62 | St. Louis | 78 | 42.1 | .450 | .771 | 18.7 | 3.7 | 31.1 |
| 1962–63 | St. Louis | 79 | 39.1 | .446 | .774 | 15.1 | 3.1 | 28.4 |
| 1963–64 | St. Louis | 80 | 41.2 | .463 | .789 | 15.3 | 3.2 | 27.4 |
| 1964–65 | St. Louis | 50 | 35.1 | .429 | .820 | 12.4 | 2.6 | 22.5 |
| Career | 792 | 38.8 | .436 | .761 | 16.2 | 3.0 | 26.4 | |
| All-Star | 11 | 32.7 | .420 | .775 | 16.1‡ | 2.0 | 20.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | St. Louis | 8 | 34.3 | .367 | .843 | 10.5 | 2.3 | 19.1 |
| 1957 | St. Louis | 10 | 43.0 | .414 | .767 | 16.8 | 2.5 | 29.8 |
| 1958† | St. Louis | 11 | 39.1 | .391 | .729 | 16.5 | 1.8 | 24.2 |
| 1959 | St. Louis | 6 | 42.8 | .423 | .785 | 12.5 | 2.3 | 27.8 |
| 1960 | St. Louis | 14 | 41.1 | .442 | .754 | 15.8 | 3.7 | 26.1 |
| 1961 | St. Louis | 12 | 43.8 | .412 | .757 | 17.6 | 3.2 | 28.6 |
| 1963 | St. Louis | 11 | 42.1 | .459 | .778 | 15.1 | 3.0 | 31.8 |
| 1964 | St. Louis | 12 | 41.2 | .412 | .835 | 14.5 | 2.8 | 21.0 |
| 1965 | St. Louis | 4 | 23.8 | .366 | .800 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 11.5 |
| Career | 88 | 40.3 | .418 | .774 | 14.8 | 2.7 | 25.5 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 9″
- Weight
- 205 lb
- Position
- Power forward / center
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1954
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 2
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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