YouTube Gold: Bob Pettit

An overlooked great

We thought today we’d get in the Wayback Machine for some vintage hoops which, in this case, means a look back at Bob Pettit.

Now 88 years old, Pettit was born in Baton Rouge in 1932 and was a late bloomer who was cut from his high school team as a freshman and sophomore.

By the time he was a senior, he had a solid reputation and accepted a scholarship to LSU where he was arguably the first great at a school that later produced Pete Maravich, Shaquille O’ Neal and Chris Jackson, later known as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

When you see his highlights, you see a guy who is fluid, agile and able to move well. He passes well too.

He’s certainly not Larry Bird but he’s the template for a lot of guys who followed.

It’s also pretty interesting to see him going up against brilliant defenders like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.

He and the Hawks - then in St. Louis - won the 1958 championship, one of two that Bill Russell missed during his magnificent career (Russell was injured and could not play).