NOTE: Saturday at 4:30 p.m. the public is invited to the plaza area at the front of the LSU men’s basketball practice facility at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center where the statue of Bob Pettit will be unveiled. In advance of the unveiling, LSUsports.net would like to present some of the LSU highlights of Bob Pettit, a timeline of his basketball career and a few things maybe you didn’t know.)
LSU Basketball Career
Bob Pettit is one of just two players to score 60 points in a basketball game joining Pete Maravich. He posted 60 points against Holy Cross in his second year against Holy Cross (12/7/53).
Here are some of his top scoring games:
60 – vs. Louisiana College (12/7/53)
57 – vs. Georgia (1/9/54)
50 – vs. Georgia (1/18/52)
44 – vs. Georgia Tech (2/13/54)
43 – vs. Georgia (1/8/54)
40 – vs. Ole Miss (1/30/52)
Top Scorers In LSU History
3,667 – Pete Maravich (1967-70)
2,080 – Rudy Macklin (1976-81)
1,989 – Tasmin Mitchell (2005-10)
1,942 – Howard Carter (1980-83)
1,941 – Shaquille’ O’Neal (1989-92)
1,916 – Bob Pettit (1,951-54)
Top Rebounders in LSU History
1,276 – Rudy Macklin (1976-81)
1,217 – Shaquille O’Neal (1989-92)
1,168 – Al Sanders (1969-72)
1,039 – Bob Pettit (1951-54)
In his 70 career games, Pettit raised his shooting percentage from 43.2 percent as a sophomore to 49 percent each of his last two seasons. Even more impressive was after making 118 free throws and shooting 59.9 percent in 1952, by the time he left in 1954 he made 223-of-308 free throws and 72.4 percent.
Only Pete Maravich made more free throws in a season, had a higher single season scoring average and his rebound average best of 17.3 in 1954 is 1.5 better than the 15.8 his teammate Ned Clark would post in 1955. In fact, all three seasons of Pettit’s scoring and rebounding averages are in their respective top 10s for a year in school history.
He’s on six of LSU’s top 10 career lists and probably would have been on more if they kept things like assists and such officially back then.
Even more remarkable, his was the first jersey retired for any player in any sports at LSU. To be the first is also a remarkable honor. He was also that year inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame after graduating from LSU.
NBA Career
And if you know Bob Pettit’s LSU career, some of the numbers and times in his NBA career just add to this marvelous mystique as a player:
- 1954 NBA Draft – 2nd overall pick, 1st round, Milwaukee Hawks
- Signed a contract for $11,000 – all-time high for an NBA rookie at that time
- 1955 – NBA Rookie of the Year – averaging 20.4 points, 13.8 rebounds
- 1955 – Second rookie to win All-NBA honors
The Hawks, after finishing last that year would move to St. Louis. In his second season Pettit adjusted his game so that he would get to the free-throw line for easy points for his team and foul trouble for his opponents. Pettit told one writer: “Offensive rebounds were worth eight to 12 points a night for me. Then I’d get another eight to 10 at the free throw line. All I had to do was make a few jump shots and I was on my way to a good night.”
1956 – NBA MVP leading NBA in scoring (25.7 ppg) and rebounds (16.2 rpg)
1956 – NBA All-Star Game MVP (20 points, 24 rebounds, 7 assists)
1957 – Hawks tie for Western Division title; Lose title in 7 games to Celtics
1958 – All-Star Game MVP – 28 points, 26 rebounds
1958 – Hawks win NBA Championship, beating Celtics in 6 games
1959 – All-Star Game MVP; Regular season NBA MVP 29.2 ppg, 16.4 rpg
1960 – Advanced to NBA Finals, falling in 7 games to Celtics
1961 – Averaged 27.9 ppg, 20.3 rpg … joined Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry Lucas as only players to average 20-20 in the NBA.
1961 – Advanced to NBA Finals, falling in 5 games to Celtics
1962 – Career high 31.1 ppg, 18.7 rpg
1962 – Named Player-Coach of team last six games: 4-2 record
1962 – Fourth All-Star Game MVP
1964 – 10th selection to All-Star Game
1965 – Retires after 11 seasons at age 32
1970 – Inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
1973 – Inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
When he retired, he was the first NBA player to eclipse 20,000 points and nearly 30 percent of his points (6,182) came at the foul line.
He finished with 11 all-star game appearances, two regular season MVPs, four All-Star MVPs, an NBA title and 10 first-team All-NBA selections.
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Pettit became a very successful businessman after his retirement and also was one of the first color analysts to work with John Ferguson on the old TVS network broadcasts of SEC Basketball. Eddie Einhorn put those packages together and in if you closely to an old tape of the famed UCLA-Houston game in 1968 in the Astrodome before over 50,000 fans, sitting courtside with a younger Dick Enberg calling that game on TVS was one Bob Pettit.
(Note: Einhorn passed away on Thursday night. After making college basketball on Saturday afternoon’s appointment viewing 50 years ago, he had spent the last 25 years as a minority owner of the Chicago White Sox.)
Now a statue remains to be unveiled Saturday and the public is invited to add another milestone to the long-lasting legacy of this legend. What a career! What a life!
Bob Pettit statue to be unveiled Feb. 27 is about a full-court pass from @shaq‘s on north end of Maravich C… https://t.co/N8cyal6Kb0
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) February 26, 2016