Hall of Famer Bob Pettit was recently named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. A decorated player in his day, Pettit finished every season of his 11-year career averaging a double-double. He won two MVP awards, including the first-ever award in 1956. He was an All-Star every year of his career from his rookie season to his retirement in 1965, when he took a banking job in his home town Baton Rouge according to an interview he did with HoopsHype.
Pettit told HoopsHype that he thinks that former Boston Celtics center Bill Russell is the greatest player of all time. Russell won 11 championships in 13 seasons, one of those losses was to Pettit’s St. Louis Hawks.
“In my opinion, Russell is the greatest player who ever played,” Pettit told HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky. “I’d pick him to start my team, in his prime, any time.”
Boston Celtics big man Grant Williams has a vision for the NBPA as its the youngest executive committee member. https://t.co/rR31STMfcK
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Russell averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game in his career, taking home 12 All-Star appearances and five league MVPs.
Russell is also the NBA’s career leader in defensive win shares, finishing 27.3 win shares over second-place Tim Duncan, according to basketball-reference. Every inactive player in the top-25 all-time in this statistic is in the Hall of Fame, except for Charles Oakley.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
