<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">March 10, 2006 -- BEFORE Pistol Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal and Rudy Macklin (no, not David Duke) flaunted their simonized stuff at LSU, Bob Petit splashed its program all over the basketball map. Despite achieving Top 50 recognition, the 6-foot-9 forerunner of Rick Barry, Larry Bird and Karl Malone is far and away the NBA's least discussed superstar. So it was a thrill for those of us who kept his pro career under tight surveillance to see Petit, looking especially fit, gracing the stands for the Hornets'/NBA's/sports' triumphant (there were only winners Wednesday) return to New Orleans. Five years from now, we'll all claim we were there for yet another 40 by Kobe Bryant, who went to the bench in the final seconds of the Lakers' win making like a helicopter and drawing the wrath of 17,744 fans. How good was Petit? His '58 St. Louis Hawks and Wilt's '67 76ers were the only teams to spoil the Celtics' 11-titles-in-13-seasons scourge. How good? In 11 seasons, Petit averaged 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds. How good? Nobody else ever won four All-Star MVPs: '56, '58, tied Elgin Baylor in '59, and '62. While on the subject of former greats, and before getting to an ingrate, during All-Star weekend I did some TV alongside Dolph Schayes. Nobody fouled more people in NBA history than the Syracuse Nationals, 6-foot-8, set-shooting forward. Oh, yeah, Schayes also happens to have been voted one of the league's Top 50 players. During a commercial break, I respectfully inquired how many years he's been on earth. "LXXVII," replied the wise guy. "I'm tall for my age." Jim Jackson scored two points in just under four minutes as a Laker debutante. How poetically unjust! There ought to be a law against playing against a team considered so unworthy by Jackson he withheld his esteemed services following a December '04 trade from Houston. After the game, Jackson (12 teams in 13 years) vowed never to show up in New Orleans again until he's named head of FEMA. </div> Source
A nice post SS, it'd be nice to see more like it. It's easy to overlook past greatness and feel like the game started with Bird and Magic.
Petit's name should come up more often in debates of who the greatest PF of all time is. It seems like everybody's default answer to that question is Karl Malone.
He actually single handedly defeated the Boston Celtics in a 6 game series. And Boston was unstoppable back then. So he deserves to be mentioned a lot more.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Petit's name should come up more often in debates of who the greatest PF of all time is. It seems like everybody's default answer to that question is Karl Malone.</div> I've heard a lot of Tim Ducan's for this one too.
