MVPs: 2. Finals MVPs: (1). All-NBA 1st Team: 10. 2nd Team: 1. 3rd Team: 0. All Star: 11. MVP: 4.
Defensive POY: 0. All-Defense 1st Team: 0. 2nd Team: 3.
Points Champ: 2.
Career Averages: 26 PPG/ 16 RPG/ 3 APG/ .436 eFG%/ .761 FT%.
Best Season: 28/ 20/ 3/ .436/ .761 (1960-61).
Postseason Averages: 25 PPG/ 15 RPG/ 3 APG/ .418 eFG%/ .774 FT%.
Best Postseason: 32/ 15/ 3/ .459/ .778 (1963).
Championships: 1 (#1 player). Runner-ups: 3 (#1 player on all).
Why he's below Elgin Baylor: His career numbers match up well with Baylor’s and come with 2 MVPs and a championship. The only reason Baylor is ahead is because Pettit won his MVPs and championship before Wilt joined the league and before Russell hit his prime. I’m betting Baylor could have matched Pettit’s success if he’d started his career in 1954.
Why he's above the rest: Bob Pettit is the one undersized big man from the 50s who found some success against Bill Russell. Pettit’s Hawks took the Celtics to 7 games in 1957 (where Pettit averaged 30 and 18) and defeated the Celtics in 1958 (where he averaged 29 and 17 and scored 50 points in the clinching game 6). That 50 point game was the last time the Celtics lost a playoff series until 1967. Pettit is one of the best shooters of all time when adjusting for era. His adjusted True Shooting Percentage is higher than any forward above him on my list except Durant.
Highlights:
Game Video: (If you know where I can find good game video of Pettit, I'd love to see it.)
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