Alright, back to my bread and butter! When you think of great power forwards, names like Tim Duncan, Karl Malone and Elvin Hayes come to mind. They were all spawned from the NBA's first great power forward, former Hawks legend Bob Pettit, our profilee for today.

Bob Pettit was born December 12, 1932 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Pettit's high school career was star-crossed; he was cut as a freshman and sophomore years, but after working hard on his game with his dad, Pettit became a starter as a junior, then led Baton Rouge High School to its first state title in over 20 years as a senior. He then went on to star at Louisiana State University (LSU), where he averaged 27.4 PPG and 14.6 RPG in his three years of play (his best year came as a senior, with 31.4 PPG and 17.3 RPG). Pettit was named All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) all three years and was All-American as a junior and senior and helped LSU to two NCAA tournament appearances (and a Final Four in 1953), which led to him being the first LSU basketball player to ever have his number retired. The Milwaukee Hawks selected Pettit in the first round of the 1955 NBA Draft (draft records are sketchy, but he's listed as the second pick overall).

As a rookie, Pettit was terrific, averaging 20.4 PPG and 13.8 RPG, winning Rookie of the Year honors. The following year, with the Hawks now playing in St. Louis, Pettit won the first ever regular season MVP after leading the league in scoring (25.7 PPG) and rebounding (16.2 RPG), leading the Hawks to their first playoff berth since 1950. He also won All-Star game MVP for the first time (he also won the award outright in 1958 and 1962 and was co-MVP with Elgin Baylor in 1959) and was an All-Star every season he played. Pettit would then lead the Hawks to their first NBA Finals in their third year and byt year four, the Hawks won their first (and so far only) title, handing the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics their only Finals loss during the great center's career. Pettit's defining moment came in the deciding game, where he scored an incredible 50 points to clinch the title on his home court. The Hawks would win five consecutive division titles (1957-61) and make two additional NBA Finals during Pettit's career.

Pettit was remarkably consistent; he never averaged under 22.5 PPG or 12.4 RPG after his rookie year, and he would retire as one of only two player to average over 20 PPG every season he played (the other was Alex Groza, and he only played two seasons). Pettit won his second league MVP in 1958-59 with a then-league record 29.2 PPG, and when he pulled down 20.3 RPG in 1960-61, he became one of only five players to average 20 rebounds per game for a season. Pettit was named All-NBA 1st Team ten times during his career (and All-NBA 2nd team the other year), and was named to the NBA's 25th, 35th and 50th anniversary teams.

Pettit retired as a player after the 1964-65 season as the NBA's leading scorer with 20,880 points (26.4 PPG career) and he also added 12,849 rebounds (16.2 RPG; he was second when he retired, his average is third highest ever, and he's still 14th all-time). His number 9 was retired by the Hawks, and in 1971, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Bob Pettit became the standard by which power forwards would be measured in the future, and few played the position better.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1954-55: 72 GP, 20.4 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 40.7 FG%, 75.1 FT%
1955-56: 72 GP, 25.7 PPG, 16.2 RPG, 2.6 APG, 42.9 FG%, 73.6 FT%
1956-57: 71 GP, 24.7 PPG, 14.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 41.5 FG%, 77.3 FT%
1957-58: 70 GP, 24.6 PPG, 17.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, 41.0 FG%, 74.9 FT%
1958-59: 72 GP, 29.2 PPG, 16.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 43.8 FG%, 75.9 FT%
1959-60: 72 GP, 26.1 PPG, 17.0 RPG, 3.6 APG, 43.8 FG%, 75.3 FT%
1960-61: 76 GP, 27.9 PPG, 20.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 44.7 FG%, 72.4 FT%
1961-62: 78 GP, 31.1 PPG, 18.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 45.0 FG%, 77.1 FT%
1962-63: 79 GP, 28.4 PPG, 15.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 44.6 FG%, 77.4 FT%
1963-64: 80 GP, 27.4 PPG, 15.3 RPG, 3.2 APG, 46.3 FG%, 78.9 FT%
1964-65: 50 GP, 22.5 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 42.9 FG%, 82.0 FT%