NBA's forgotten GOAT; BOB PETTIT

When we talk about NBA GOATS, or Rankings, how many times do you hear the name Bob Pettit?  Have you even heard of Bob Pettit?  He deserves to be in the conversation for top 10-15 of all time.  He deserves that you know who he is.  SLAM Magazine had him at 14. Bill Simmons had him at 17.  But people still forget or have never known.  Most "Greatest Power Forwards" list have him at 5 or 6, sometimes even lower.  There is no way he is lower than 2-3 and can be argued at number 1.

For those who do not know, Bob Pettit Played 11 years in the NBA.  And was GREAT in all of them.  He was an all star every year (and won 4 nba all star MVPs, back when players actually tried in all star games).  He was All NBA every year of his career including 1st team 10x and 2nd team 1x.  He was NBA MVP 2x.  He lead the league in scoring 2x (yes that's as many as Kobe Bryant).  He was a 6'9" power forward that shot 75+% free throws.  He is the only Player EVER to dethrone Bill Russell in an NBA finals, and did it in impressive 50 pt fashion.  He is 8th all time on the career PPG with 26.4, and 3rd on the career RPG list with 16.2.   I have wrote about it before.  Cumulative stats are over-rated.  Longevity at mediocrity should not outweigh a sustained decade of greatness.  

- In 1958 Pettit became the one and only player to beat a Bill Russell Celtics team in the NBA final. In the game 6 clincher, a 110-109 win, Pettit scored a then NBA finals record 50 points. He also came close to dethroning Russell's Celtics in 1957 in a game 7 2pt double OT loss to Boston. That series had 2 double OT games, and 4 total games within 2 pts. He also took Boston to 7 games in 1960.

- Pettit is the only player in NBA history has been top 5 in PPG and top 5 in RPG for 10 years each (Pettit, did it for 10 consecutive years and did it simultaneously). Jabbar was close but only had 9 years top 5 RPG. Wilt was close but only had 9 years top 5 in PPG.  That says it all.  In his 11 years in the league he achieved something that Jabbar couldn't do in 20 seasons and Wilt couldn't do in 15 seasons.

- Pettit and Jordan are the only players to average 20+ PPG in every season they played (min 5 seasons played).  Lebron may be added to this list eventually

 - 10 players in NBA history have at least 10 All-NBA 1st Team Selections:  Only 4 did it in 10 consecutive years (Jordan, Malone, Cousy, and Pettit)

- Pettit was top 5 in MVP votes 8x in his career (won 2x).  And he won the inaugural MVP Vote in his second season in the NBA.  And he regularly made the top 5 list with Russell, Chamberlain, West, Baylor, Roberson, and Cousy.  Assuming he would have been top 5 in MVP votes in his rookie year as well that would make 9x being in top 5 in MVP votes.  Only 6 players have had more years of top 5 iMVP voting 

In my opinion Pettit is 8th on the All time list.  

Jordan
Russell
Bird
Magic
Lebron
Jabbar
Wilt
Pettit
Duncan
Robertson
Shaq
Kobe
West
Baylor
Moses Malone
Olajuwon
Dr. J
Cousy
Karl Malone
Stockton

NBA

Hawks

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Written by

tamir1515

Sportatistics

Sports + Stats = Debate

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