Bob Pettit, NBA's First MVP and Hawks Legend, Dies at 93

Bob Pettit, one of professional basketball's earliest dominant figures and winner of the NBA's first Most Valuable Player award, has died at 93. LSU and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced his death on Thursday; he died Wednesday. No cause of death was provided.

Pettit was an All-American at LSU, where he led the Southeastern Conference in scoring across all three of his varsity seasons and averaged 27.4 points and 14.1 rebounds for his college career. He was drafted second overall in 1954 by the Milwaukee Hawks, named Rookie of the Year in 1955, and went on to play 11 seasons entirely with the Hawks (who relocated to St. Louis in 1955). He was selected as an All-Star in each of his 11 NBA seasons and won the MVP award twice: in 1955–56, when he led the league in scoring at 25.7 points per game, and again in 1958–59 at 29.2 points per game.

Pettit led the Hawks to four NBA Finals appearances, all against the Boston Celtics, and secured the franchise's only championship in 1958. In Game 6 of that series—the clinching game—he scored 50 points, a playoff record at the time. He was named MVP of the All-Star Game four times, a distinction matched only by Kobe Bryant. At 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds, Pettit played power forward and center and was among the first big men who played facing the basket rather than exclusively with his back to it.

At retirement following the 1964–65 season, Pettit held the NBA career record for points with 20,880 and ranked second in rebounds with 12,849. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. Pettit is one of only three LSU players in the Hall of Fame, alongside Pete Maravich and Shaquille O'Neal. His No. 50 jersey is retired by LSU and his No. 9 by the Atlanta Hawks. After basketball, he worked in banking and financial consulting in his native Baton Rouge and remained active at LSU and New Orleans Pelicans games.