It has been 23 years since Bob Pettit last graced a St. Louis basketball court, performing in a manner that few professionals have reached. Those who saw him don`t need a reminder. Those who didn`t must rely on books, newspaper accounts or recollections from those who witnessed his magic.
In 11 pro seasons, the 6-foot-9-inch Pettit averaged 26.4 points and 16.1 rebounds a game. He never finished below seventh in a National Basketball Association scoring race. He was the first player in NBA history to score 20,000 points.
”As much as Stan Musial was the symbol of baseball in St. Louis, Bob Pettit became the symbol of basketball in St. Louis,” former broadcaster Bud Blattner said at a reunion luncheon honoring the 1958 NBA champion Hawks team.
All of this from a player who struggled to make his high school team. While growing up in Baton Rouge, Robert E. Lee Pettit`s main goal was to earn a high school basketball letter. It wasn`t easy. He was cut from the team his first two years before finally succeeding as a 6-4 junior. In the interim, he shot more times than he could remember at a basket in the back yard of the family home.
By the time he was a senior, he had improved so much that he led his team to the state championship, one of two games he says he really remembers. The other was his 50-point performance against Boston in the final game of the 1958 NBA championship series.
”You can`t really compare the two games,” Pettit said. ”But at the time, winning the state title meant so much.”
His high school performances propelled him to another goal, a scholarship to Louisiana State. By the time he was a senior there, he had grown five inches, averaged 30 points a game and achieved All-America status.
But because Pettit weighed just 200, some doubted he could endure the pounding of the NBA. Former Hawks owner Ben Kerner was not among them.
Considering Pettit`s college numbers, it is almost numbing to ponder how much money he would have made had he come out of college 30 years later. But the Hawks were Kerner`s main livelihood, and he wasn`t about to pay huge sums of money, even to a No. 1 draft pick. When Pettit began negotiating, he discovered Kerner was a tough customer.
”I did my own negotiating,” Pettit recalled. ”I had the notion that I would ask for $15,000. Mr. Kerner was offering $11,000. We negotiated for four hours. I gave him all my best arguments-and I wound up signing for $11,000.” Pettit proved to be a bargain. In his first season, he averaged 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds, was Rookie of the Year and all-NBA first team. The next year, Pettit led the NBA in scoring and rebounding and was named Most Valuable Player.
”I was an old-timer when he was a rookie,” said former Hawks coach Alex Hannum, ”and I saw him mature into a great player. He was a superstar, and to his credit, he was looked up to in the same way by his teammates.”
Indeed, many Hawks-from the tiniest, Slater Martin, to the tallest, Charlie Share-believed they almost had to be protective of the 6-9 forward.
”A fight broke out and somebody hit me from behind and I just went flying,” Pettit said. ”Charlie Share came up to me later and said, `That will never happen again.`
”A short time later, Slater Martin and I are walking back to our hotel after a game and we`re being followed by someone who`s had too much to drink. He said to me, `Boy, are you tall,` and Slater slugged him.
”I said, `Slater, what did you do that for?` and Slater said, `Nobody`s going to talk to you that way.` ”
Pettit did not act like a superstar. Pettit was just Big Blue, in honor of his long blue overcoat his mother still keeps in her Louisiana home.
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Hannum said Pettit always played to win.
”He`s a winner, whether it was in playing cards, just a game or on the court, he played it honestly to win and not just to pass the time away,” he said. ”I always said that it was no fun to play poker against Bob Pettit, because he always played to win, not just to have fun.”
That attitude was reflected in the biggest games: In 88 playoff games, he averaged 25.5 points. And he won three MVP awards in the NBA All-Star Games and shared a fourth with Elgin Baylor. In the 1956 All-Star Game, he had 20 points and 24 rebounds. In 1958, he had 28 points and 26 rebounds, despite playing with a cast on his hand. And in 1962, he scored 25 points and had 27 rebounds.
Pettit has maintained some contact with the NBA. Several years ago, organizers of the All-Star Game in Denver decided to bring in some of the game`s legends, including Pettit, for a contest.
”It`s a lot of fun, having the association with the other players,”
Pettit said. ”I`m in good shape-particularly for somebody who is 55-but I can`t compete with somebody who is 38. You`ve got to go in and enjoy it, but realize you`re not going to score any points or get any rebounds.”
That probably won`t be the way Pettit is remembered.
”I think he`s recognized by everybody in the game of basketball as one of the all-time greats,” Hannum said. ”That includes the players of today. If an all-time team were put out now, he`d still be one of the corners.”