View source for Bob Pettit

{{short description|American former basketball player and coach (born 1932)}}
{{for|the baseball player|Bob Pettit (baseball)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Bob Pettit
| image = Bob Pettit 1961.jpeg
| width = 
| caption = Pettit with the [[Atlanta Hawks|St. Louis Hawks]] in 1961
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 9
| weight_lb = 205
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1932|12|12}}
| birth_place = [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| high_school = [[Baton Rouge Magnet High School|Baton Rouge]]<br />(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
| college = [[LSU Tigers basketball|LSU]] (1951–1954)
| draft_year = 1954
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 2
| draft_team = [[Milwaukee Hawks]]
| career_start = 1954
| career_end = 1965
| career_position = [[Power forward]] / [[Center (basketball)|center]]
| career_number = 9
| years1 = {{nbay|1954|start}}–{{nbay|1964|end}}
| team1 = [[Atlanta Hawks|Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks]]
| highlights =
* [[NBA champion]] ({{nbafy|1958}})
* 2× [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|NBA Most Valuable Player]] ({{nbay|1955|end}}, {{nbay|1958|end}})
* 11× [[NBA All-Star]] ({{nasg|1955}}–{{nasg|1965}})
* 4× [[NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award|NBA All-Star Game MVP]] ({{nasg|1956}}, {{nasg|1958}}, {{nasg|1959}}{{efn|co-MVP along with [[Elgin Baylor]]}}, {{nasg|1962}})
* 10× [[All-NBA First Team]] ({{nbay|1954|end}}–{{nbay|1963|end}})
* [[All-NBA Second Team]] ({{nbay|1964|end}})
* [[NBA Rookie of the Year Award|NBA Rookie of the Year]] ({{nbay|1954|end}})
* 2× [[List of National Basketball Association annual scoring leaders|NBA scoring champion]] ({{nbay|1955|end}}, {{nbay|1958|end}})
* [[List of National Basketball Association annual rebounding leaders|NBA rebounding leader]] ({{nbay|1955|end}})
* [[NBA anniversary team]] ([[NBA 25th Anniversary Team|25th]], [[NBA 35th Anniversary Team|35th]], [[50 Greatest Players in NBA History|50th]], [[NBA 75th Anniversary Team|75th]])
* No. 9 [[Atlanta Hawks#Retired numbers|retired by Atlanta Hawks]]
* Consensus first-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] ([[1954 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1954]])
* Consensus second-team All-American ([[1953 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1953]])
* No. 50 [[LSU Tigers basketball#Retired numbers|retired by LSU Tigers]]
| stats_league = NBA
| stat1label = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://stats.nba.com/player/77847/career/ |title=Stats at NBA.com |access-date=September 22, 2019 |archive-date=February 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214061955/https://stats.nba.com/player/77847/career/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| stat1value = 20,880 (26.4 ppg)
| stat2label = [[Rebound (basketball)|Rebounds]]
| stat2value = 12,849 (16.2 rpg)
| stat3label = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat3value = 2,369 (3.0 apg)
| HOF_player = bob-pettit
| CBBASKHOF_year = 2006
}}

'''Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɛ|t|ɪ|t}} {{respelling|PET|it}}; born December 12, 1932)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/history/legends/profiles/bob-pettit|title=Legends profile: Bob Pettit|work=[[NBA.com]]|date=August 23, 2017|access-date=January 2, 2021|archive-date=October 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018130740/https://www.nba.com/history/legends/profiles/bob-pettit|url-status=live}}</ref> is an American former professional [[basketball]] player. He played 11 seasons in the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]], all with the [[Atlanta Hawks|Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks]] (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|NBA's Most Valuable Player Award]] and he won the award again in 1959. He also won the [[NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award|NBA All-Star Game MVP award]] four times. As of the end of [[2023–24 NBA season|2023-2024 regular season]], Pettit is still the only regular season MVP in the history of the Hawks. Pettit is the leader for most career rebounds (12,849), and most rebounds per game with 16.2 in Hawks franchise history.

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]] and one of only two living members as of 2025 with [[Bob Cousy]]. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest{{under discussion inline|talkpage=WT:NBA#Discussion on allowing "greatest" in the lead of all NBA players}} [[Power forward (basketball)|power forwards]] of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/nbarankPFs/ranking-greatest-power-forwards-nba-history|title=All-Time #NBArank: Duncan tops list of best power forwards ever|date=January 15, 2016|publisher=ESPN|access-date=January 15, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611114137/http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/nbarankPFs/ranking-greatest-power-forwards-nba-history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/top-10-power-forwards-in-nba-history|title=Top 10 power forwards in NBA history|website=Fox Sports|date=October 20, 2016|access-date=March 30, 2022|archive-date=August 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803012507/https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/top-10-power-forwards-in-nba-history|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr. was born on December 12, 1932, in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]]. Pettit's basketball career had humble beginnings, as at [[Baton Rouge High School]], he was cut from the varsity basketball team as both a freshman and sophomore. He played church league basketball as a sophomore and grew five inches in less than a year. His father, [[sheriff]] of [[East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana|East Baton Rouge Parish]] (1932–1936), pushed him to practice in the backyard of the Kemmerly house until he improved his skills. It worked: Pettit became a starter and made the All-City prep team as a junior. As a 6-7 senior, he led Baton Rouge High to its first state championship in over 20 years. Pettit was then selected to play in a North–South all-star game at [[Murray, Kentucky]].<ref name="lasportshall.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.lasportshall.com/?inductees=bob-pettit|title=Bob Pettit|access-date=January 3, 2019|archive-date=January 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103212333/https://www.lasportshall.com/?inductees=bob-pettit|url-status=live}}</ref>

==College career==
After high school, Pettit had scholarship offers from 14 universities and accepted a [[scholarship]] to play at nearby [[Louisiana State University]] (LSU). He was a three-time All-[[Southeastern Conference]] selection and a two-time [[All-America]]n as a member of the [[LSU Tigers basketball|LSU men's basketball team]].  (Freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball in those days.) During those three years, Pettit averaged 27.8 points per game.  He was also a member of the Zeta Zeta chapter of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] at LSU.
[[File:Bob Pettit 1951.jpeg|thumb|150px|left|Pettit in 1951]]

Pettit made his varsity debut at LSU in 1952.  He led the [[Southeastern Conference|SEC]] in scoring for his first of three consecutive seasons, averaging 25.5 points per game.  He ranked third in the nation in scoring and also averaged 13.1 rebounds per game, helping his team to a 17–7 win–loss record for a second-place finish in the league, and was selected to the All-SEC team.

During his junior year, Pettit helped the Tigers sail through a 23-game regular-season schedule with only one loss (to Tulsa). A clean sweep of SEC Conference opponents became LSU's second SEC Title (their first came in 1935) and the school's first [[NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship|NCAA Final Four]]. He averaged 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds per game for the 1953 season. He was honored with selections to both the All-SEC and All-American teams.

Pettit averaged 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds per game during his senior year and once again led LSU to an SEC Championship and garnered All-SEC and All-American honors. He set a then-SEC scoring record of 60 points against Louisiana College in his second game, and also the SEC record for scoring average, with both records being broken by [[Pete Maravich]]. Pettit also was the second player in major-college basketball history to average more than 30 points a game.<ref name="lasportshall.com"/>

In 1954, his number 50 was retired at LSU. He was the first Tiger athlete in any sport to receive this distinction. In 1999, he was named Living Legend for LSU at the SEC Basketball Tournament. He is a member of the [[LSU Hall of Fame]].  ''Bob Pettit Boulevard'' in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is named after him.

==Professional career==
===Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965)===
[[File:Bob Pettit 1962.jpeg|thumb|left|150px|Pettit in 1962]]
In 1954, the [[Milwaukee Hawks]] selected Pettit second in the first round of the [[NBA draft]] after the Baltimore Bullets' selection of [[Frank Selvy]]. With $100 in the bank, he signed a contract with Hawks owner Ben Kerner for $11,000 – an all-time high for an NBA rookie then. Pettit's awkward ballhandling and a lack of strength to battle NBA bruisers weighing 200 pounds that early in his career, had Hawks coach [[Red Holzman]] move him from center, his position at LSU, to forward in his first training camp. "In college I played the standing pivot", he said in an [https://web.archive.org/web/20091001195644/http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport-stories/1957apr-pettit.html April 1957 SPORT magazine] interview. "My back was to the basket. In the pros, I'm always outside. Everything I do is facing the basket now. That was my chief difficulty in adjusting, the fact that I had never played forward before." Though many were skeptical about Pettit making the transition from college to the rough-and-tumble NBA, in 1955 he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He became the second rookie to win all-NBA honors but the team finished last in the Western Division.<ref name="lasportshall.com"/> After the season, the Hawks moved to [[St. Louis]].
[[File:Bob Pettit 1957.jpeg|thumb|left|150px|Pettit in 1957]]

[[File:Bob Pettit 1958 NBA All-Star Game.jpeg|thumb|150px|Pettit in 1958 after being named MVP of the All-Star Game]]
He helped the Hawks improve during their first year in St. Louis by winning 33 games during 1955–56. 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. Being a phenomenal offensive rebounder and an instinctive scorer, he told basketball historian [[Terry Pluto]] that "Offensive rebounds were worth eight to 12 points a night to 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."<ref name="howstuffworks.com">{{cite web|url=https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/bob-pettit-at.htm|title=Bob Pettit|date=August 12, 2007|website=HowStuffWorks|access-date=January 3, 2019|archive-date=January 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104021346/https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/bob-pettit-at.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pettit won his first scoring title with a 25.7 average, and led the league in rebounding (1164 for a 16.2 average). He was also named MVP of the [[1956 NBA All-Star Game]] after scoring 20 points with 24 rebounds and 7 assists; he would win subsequent MVP All-Star Game honors in [[1958 NBA All-Star Game|1958]], [[1959 NBA All-Star Game|1959]], and [[1962 NBA All-Star Game|1962]]. He also won his first of two [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|NBA regular season MVP awards]] (the other was in 1959).

Retooling before the 1956–57 season, the Hawks acquired [[Ed Macauley]] and rookie [[Cliff Hagan]] from the [[Boston Celtics]] for the draft rights to [[Bill Russell]]. The team added guard [[Slater Martin]] in an early-season deal with the New York Knicks while [[Alex Hannum]] arrived a few weeks later after being released by the Fort Wayne Pistons. Hannum became the team's third coach that season by taking over as player-coach with 31 games left on the schedule. Though they posted a 34–38 record in 1956–57, a series of tie-breaking playoff games against the Pistons and a three-game sweep of the Minneapolis Lakers had them in the NBA Finals. In Game 1 of the 1957 [[NBA Finals]] at the Boston Garden, Pettit scored 37 points as the Hawks shocked the Bill Russell-led [[Boston Celtics]] in double overtime. Pettit won his team the third game in the series with a late basket in St. Louis. His two free throws with six seconds left in Game 7 forced overtime, but Pettit's 39 points and 19 rebounds in 56 minutes weren't enough to win a double-overtime game. Pettit averaged 29.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game during their 1957 playoff run.

[[File:Bob Pettit 1958.jpeg|thumb|150px|Pettit as a member of the Hawks]]
A franchise-record 41 wins and a division crown allowed the Hawks to get back at the Celtics in the 1958 NBA Finals. Pettit led the Hawks to an NBA Championship with a then-playoff record 50 points in the Hawks' 110–109 series-clinching victory in game 6. Pettit's 50 points stood alone as the most in a Finals close-out victory until it was matched by [[Giannis Antetokounmpo]] in [[2021 NBA Finals|2021]]. Both teams would later meet in the 1960 and 1961 Finals, with Boston winning each time. For the season, Pettit scored 24.6 ppg and pulled down 17.4 rpg, and earned All-Star Game MVP honors with a performance that included 28 points and 26 rebounds. St. Louis finished at the top of the Western Division in each of the next three seasons. Pettit's league-leading scoring average of 29.2 points per game in the [[1958–59 NBA season|1958–59 season]] was an NBA record at the time, and he was named the [[Sporting News]] NBA MVP.

In the [[1960–61 NBA season|1960–61 season]], Pettit averaged 27.9 points per game<ref name="nba.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/players/pettit_bio.html|title=NBA.com: Bob Pettit Bio|website=www.nba.com|access-date=March 13, 2014|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628184005/http://www.nba.com/history/players/pettit_bio.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and pulled down [[List of National Basketball Association top individual rebounding season averages|20.3 rebounds per game]], making him one of only five players to ever break the 20 rpg barrier. He, along with [[Wilt Chamberlain]] and [[Jerry Lucas]], are the only three people who averaged more than twenty points and twenty rebounds in an NBA season. On February 18, 1961, Pettit scored a career-high 57 points and grabbed 28 rebounds in a 141–138 win over the Detroit Pistons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196102180DET.html|title=St. Louis Hawks at Detroit Pistons Box Score, February 18, 1961|publisher=Basketball-Reference|access-date=February 16, 2020|archive-date=February 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216005349/https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196102180DET.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the following season, he scored a career-best 31.1 points per game, but the Hawks slipped to fourth place. After missing 30 games because of injuries, Pettit ended his career in 1965 still near the peak of his game. He was the first NBA player to eclipse the 20,000 points mark (20,880 for a 26.4 average). Of the 20,880 points he scored in the NBA, 6,182 of them (nearly 30 percent) came from free throws. His 12,849 rebounds were second-most in league history at the time he retired, and his 16.2 rebounds per game career average remains third only to [[Wilt Chamberlain]] and Bill Russell.

Pettit was an NBA All-Star in each of his 11 seasons, was named to the All-NBA First Team ten times, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team once.  Pettit still holds the top two NBA All-Star Game rebounding performances with 26 in 1958 and 27 in 1962, and has the second-highest All-Star Game points per game average with 20.4 (behind only [[Oscar Robertson]]).  Pettit averaged at least 20 points per game and at least 12 rebounds per game in each of his 11 NBA seasons. He never finished below seventh in the NBA scoring race<ref name="nba.com"/> and no other retired player in NBA history other than Pettit and [[Alex Groza]] (who played only two seasons) has averaged ''more'' than 20 points per game in every season they've played (note: [[Michael Jordan]] averaged ''exactly'' 20 points per game in his final season).

In 1970, Petit was inducted into the [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame]]. He is one of four players who was named to all four [[NBA anniversary teams]] ([[NBA 25th Anniversary Team|25th]], [[NBA 35th Anniversary Team|35th]], [[50 Greatest Players in NBA History|50th]], [[NBA 75th Anniversary Team|75th]]), along with [[Bob Cousy]], [[George Mikan]], and Bill Russell.<ref>{{cite news|first=Alex|last=Butler|title=LeBron, Kobe, Shaq among 76 players on NBA's 75th anniversary team|date=October 22, 2021|publisher=United Press International|url=https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NBA/2021/10/22/LeBron-Kobe-Shaq-among-76-players-NBA-75th-Anniversary-Team-basketball/2151634911876/|access-date=October 24, 2021|archive-date=October 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023205911/https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NBA/2021/10/22/LeBron-Kobe-Shaq-among-76-players-NBA-75th-Anniversary-Team-basketball/2151634911876/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bpetitt2013.jpg|thumb|150px|Pettit in 2013]]

==Personal life==
Pettit worked in the banking industry in Baton Rouge and Metairie for 23 years before entering financial consulting in 1988. In 2006, he retired from Equitas Capital Investors, a financial consulting company that he co-founded.

He was married to his wife Carole, who died in 2010, and has three children and 10 grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myneworleans.com/Louisiana-Life/March-April-2009/Goaltending/|title=Goaltending|website=www.myneworleans.com|date=March 2, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120000510/http://www.myneworleans.com/Louisiana-Life/March-April-2009/Goaltending/|archive-date=20 January 2019}}</ref>

==NBA career statistics==
{{NBA player statistics legend|champion=y|leader=y}}

===Regular season===
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
|-
!Year !! Team !! GP !! MPG !! FG% !! FT% !! RPG !! APG !! PPG
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1954–55 NBA season|1954–55]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1954–55 Milwaukee Hawks season|Milwaukee]]
|72 || 36.9 || .407 || .751 || 13.8 || 3.2 || 20.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1955–56 NBA season|1955–56]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1955–56 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|72 || 38.8 || .429 || .736 || 16.2 || 2.6 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|25.7*
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1956–57 NBA season|1956–57]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1956–57 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|71 || 35.1 || .415 || .773 || 14.6 || 1.9 || 24.7
|-
|style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|[[1957–58 NBA season|1957–58†]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|70 || 36.1 || .410 || .749 || 17.4 || 2.2 || 24.6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1958–59 NBA season|1958–59]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1958–59 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|style="background:#cfecec;"|72* || 39.9 || .438 || .759 || 16.4 || 3.1 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|29.2*
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1959–60 NBA season|1959–60]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1959–60 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|72 || 40.2 || .438 || .753 || 17.0 || 3.6 || 26.1
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1960–61 NBA season|1960–61]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1960–61 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|76 || 39.8 || .447 || .724 || '''20.3''' || 3.4 || 27.9
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1961–62 NBA season|1961–62]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1961–62 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|78 || '''42.1''' || .450 || .771 || 18.7 || '''3.7''' || '''31.1'''
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1962–63 NBA season|1962–63]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1962–63 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|79 || 39.1 || .446 || .774 || 15.1 || 3.1 || 28.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1963–64 NBA season|1963–64]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1963–64 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|'''80''' || 41.2 || '''.463''' || .789 || 15.3 || 3.2 || 27.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1964–65 NBA season|1964–65]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1964–65 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|50 || 35.1 || .429 || '''.820''' || 12.4 || 2.6 || 22.5
|-class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career<ref name="Basketball Reference">{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pettibo01.html|title=Bob Pettit|website=Basketball Reference|access-date=February 25, 2020|archive-date=April 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404235135/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pettibo01.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|792 || 38.8 || .436 || .761 || 16.2 || 3.0 || 26.4
|-class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|All-Star<ref name="Basketball Reference"/>
|11 || 32.7 || .420 || .775 || 16.1 || 2.0 || 20.3
|}

===Playoffs===
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
|-
!Year !! Team !! GP !! MPG !! FG% !! FT% !! RPG !! APG !! PPG
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1956 NBA playoffs|1956]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1955–56 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|8 || 34.3 || .367 || '''.843''' || 10.5 || 2.3 || 19.1
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1957 NBA playoffs|1957]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1956–57 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|10 || 43.0 || .414 || .767 || 16.8 || 2.5 || 29.8
|-
|style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|[[1958 NBA playoffs|1958]]†
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|11 || 39.1 || .391 || .729 || 16.5 || 1.8 || 24.2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1959 NBA playoffs|1959]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1958–59 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|6 || 42.8 || .423 || .785 || 12.5 || 2.3 || 27.8
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1960 NBA playoffs|1960]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1959–60 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|'''14''' || 41.1 || .442 || .754 || 15.8 || '''3.7''' || 26.1
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1961 NBA playoffs|1961]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1960–61 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|12 || '''43.8''' || .412 || .757 || '''17.6''' || 3.2 || 28.6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1963 NBA playoffs|1963]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1962–63 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|11 || 42.1 || '''.459''' || .778 || 15.1 || 3.0 || '''31.8'''
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1964 NBA playoffs|1964]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1963–64 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|12 || 41.2 || .412 || .835 || 14.5 || 2.8 || 21.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1965 NBA playoffs|1965]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1964–65 St. Louis Hawks season|St. Louis]]
|4 || 23.8 || .366 || .800 || 6.0 || 2.0 || 11.5
|-class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career<ref name="Basketball Reference"/>
|88 || 40.3 || .418 || .774 || 14.8 || 2.7 || 25.5
|}

==See also==
* [[List of NBA career scoring leaders]]
* [[List of NBA franchise career scoring leaders]]
* [[List of NBA career rebounding leaders]]
* [[List of NBA annual rebounding leaders]]
* [[List of NBA single-game playoff scoring leaders]]
* [[List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 60 or more points in a game]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bob Pettit}}
* {{Basketballhof|bob-pettit}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150330011715/http://www.nba.com/history/players/pettit_summary.html Official NBA profile]
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pettibo01.html Basketball-Reference.com: Bob Pettit] (as player)
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/pettibo01c.html Basketball-Reference.com: Bob Pettit] (as coach)

{{navboxes|list=
{{Atlanta Hawks coach navbox}}
{{St. Louis Hawks 1957–58 NBA champions}}
{{1953 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1954 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1954 NBA draft}}
{{NBA MVP's}}
{{NBA Rookies of the Year}}
{{NBA All-Star Game MVP Award}}
{{NBA scoring leaders}}
{{NBA rebounding leaders}}
{{1971 Basketball HOF}}
{{Basketball Hall of Fame forwards}}
{{NBA25}}
{{NBA35}}
{{NBA50}}
{{NBA75}}
{{Atlanta Hawks}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettit, Bob}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Baton Rouge, Louisiana]]
[[Category:Baton Rouge Magnet High School alumni]]
[[Category:Cajun sportspeople]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:LSU Tigers men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Hawks draft picks]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Hawks players]]
[[Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:NBA All-Stars]]
[[Category:NBA Most Valuable Player Award winners]]
[[Category:NBA players with retired numbers]]
[[Category:Basketball player-coaches]]
[[Category:Power forwards]]
[[Category:St. Louis Hawks head coaches]]
[[Category:St. Louis Hawks players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]