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

NEW ORLEANS — Bob Pettit, the dominant power forward who became the National Basketball Association’s first Most Valuable Player and led the St. Louis Hawks to their sole championship, died on Wednesday. He was 93.

His alma mater, Louisiana State University, announced his passing on Thursday but did not disclose a cause of death.

Pettit, a consensus All-American at LSU, enjoyed an illustrious 11-season professional career spent entirely with the Hawks franchise. During that span, he was selected as an All-Star every year and captured the league’s top individual honor in both 1956 and 1959.

His crowning achievement came in 1958 when he guided the Hawks to an NBA title by defeating the powerhouse Boston Celtics. The victory stands as the franchise’s only championship, a remarkable feat considering the Hawks reached the Finals four times, all against Boston, losing three of those series.

At 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds, Pettit was a pioneering physical presence at the power forward position before it became a standard role in basketball strategy. According to his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame biography, he was “lean, graceful, and always well-conditioned,” and notable for being one of the first big men to frequently face the basket rather than playing solely with his back to it.

Pettit’s career coincided with an era dominated by basketball giants such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, and Elgin Baylor. Despite his individual brilliance, including being the league’s top scorer in 1956 and 1959, he played in a smaller market before the NBA’s widespread television expansion, which limited his national exposure.

He averaged 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds over his career, retiring after the 1964-65 season as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 20,880 points. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970.

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Dec. 12, 1932, Pettit was a late bloomer who did not make his high school varsity team until his junior year. He then led his team to a state championship and chose to remain at LSU, where he led the Southeastern Conference in scoring all three of his seasons.

He is one of only three LSU players to reach the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Pete Maravich and Shaquille O’Neal. His No. 50 jersey was retired by LSU, while his No. 9 was retired by the Atlanta Hawks.

After retiring from basketball, Pettit returned to his native Baton Rouge, where he worked in banking and financial consulting. In his later years, he remained a familiar figure at games for both LSU and the New Orleans Pelicans.