Sports Poets Society

His grit made ‘second effort’ a part  of the sport’s vocabulary. N.B.A.  The New York Times Domenica 27 settembre 2026 Pagina 29 Bob Pettit , a prototype for the modern-day power forward who was named one of the N.B.A.’s 50 greatest players of its first half century and who led the Hawks franchise to its only league championship, died on Wednesday. He was 93. His death was announced by Louisiana State University, his alma mater. No other details were provided.  Playing for the Hawks from 1954 to 1965, in Milwaukee as a rookie and then in St. Louis, the 6foot-9-inch Pettit became the first player to score at least 20,000 points, and he retired as the league’s second-leading career rebounder. He was an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971.  Pettit turned in one of the most brilliant playoff performances in N.B.A. history on April 12, 1958, when he scored 50 points, including 19 of the Hawks’ last 21, in a champio...

Bob Pettit was named Most Valuable Player  of the  N.B.A. All-Star Game in 1958.Credit...Associated Press https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/obituaries/bob-pettit-dead.html A prolific scorer and rebounder, in 1958 he delivered one of the most remarkable performances in playoff history. Bob Pettit was named Most Valuable Player of the N.B.A. All-Star Game in 1958.Credit...Associated Press By Richard Goldstein Published Sept. 24, 2026 Updated Sept. 25, 2026, 10:53 a.m. ET Bob Pettit , a prototype for the modern-day power forward who was named one of the N.B.A.’s 50 greatest players of its first half century and who led the Hawks franchise to its only league championship, died on Wednesday. He was 93. His death was announced by Louisiana State University, his alma mater. No other details were provided. Playing for the Hawks from 1954 to 1965, in Milwaukee as a rookie and then in St. Louis, the 6-foot-9-inch Pettit became the first N.B.A. player to score at least 20,000 points, a...

Bob Pettit was so ungainly that he didn't make his high school team until his junior season. But you wouldn't have known that once he turned pro. Pettit was the first rookie ever to make the NBA's All-League Team . In 1958, the " Bayou Bomber " hit for 50 points in Game 6 of the Finals and led the Hawks past the Celtics, the only interruption to Boston's run of titles from 1957 through 1966 . Over his first nine NBA seasons, he never finished below fourth in either rebounding or scoring . When Pettit retired in 1965, he was the NBA's all-time scoring leader with 20,880 points. Pettit had the dubious distinction of being cut from his high school baseball and football teams. He was 5-foot-9 as a freshman at Baton Rouge High School and his awkward play got him cut from the team. Then his father nailed up a basket in the backyard, and Pettit practiced around the clock . By his senior year he had grown to 6-foot-7; he scored 31 points per game and led his ...

NBA PHOTOS/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES Bob Pettit was the first player to score 20,000 points.  He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971. Hall of Famer, 11-time all-star led Hawks to franchise’s only championship in 1958 25 Sep 2026 - The Washington Post BY GLENN RIFKIN Bob Pettit, a Hall of Fame basketball player who led the old St. Louis Hawks to the 1958 NBA championship and helped define the position of power forward with his prolific scoring and powerful rebounding, died Sept. 23. He was 93. His death was announced by his alma mater, Louisiana State University. Before such stars as Larry Bird, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett came to personify the modern power forward, Mr. Pettit was the player, with his rebounding prowess and deft shooting touch, who was credited with elevating the position to a game-changing level. He was an NBA all-star in each of his 11 seasons and was the league’s most valuable player in 1956, the year the award was created. He won the MVP award ag...

The St. Louis Hawks' great star Bob Pettit tries for a basket in typical Pettit style in a game against the Cincinnati Royals in New York City on December 10, 1957.  Pettit was one of the great scorers in NBA history: his career average of 26.4 points per game ranks fifth on the all-time list.  Pettit also was the first NBA player to score 20,000 points.  However, Pettit was an unorthodox scoring machine. Pettit had an accurate outside shot, but was a lousy dribbler and rarely drove to the basket.  His greatest offensive assets were his skill at drawing fouls and his uncanny ability beneath the offensive glass. Alan Minsky Kings of the Court The best way to describe Bob Pettit in terms of contemporary players would be as a Dennis Rodman who could shoot . Rodman, known as The Worm , starred for the champion Detroit Pistons in the late eighties and early nineties, and now, as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, is the NBA's leading rebounder. But though Rodman is a ter...

"He could beat you inside,  he could beat you inside."    - Red Auerbach BASKETBALL STARS Blackdog & Leventhal, 1997 Few felt that Bob Pettit could continue his high-scoring college play in the NBA. Sure, he'd grown a few inches and had a deadly one-handed jumper , but at a wiry 200 pounds he was simply too skinny to mix it up under the board and survive. Pettit confounded the skeptics with an indomitable work ethic and became the first in a series of titans to grapple with Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics for NBA supremacy. Pettit led his Hawks to the finals four times in five years beginning in 1957 . The first series took two overtimes in the seventh game to decide in the Celtics' favor. The following year, Pettit scored 50 points in the decisive sixth game, including 19 of the team's last 21 , and the clinching basket . Pettit's team would be the only club to defeat Russell's Celtics in a finals series , and the last to beat them in any p...

Bob Pettit was an All-American at LSU, then became an All-Star in each of his 11 NBA seasons,  all with the Hawks’ franchise (the first year in Milwaukee, the other 10 in St. Louis).  He was the leading scorer in NBA history when he retired in 1965. (AP 1957) 25 Sep 2026 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Associated Press Bob Pettit, an imposing scorer and rebounder for the St. Louis Hawks and winner of the NBA’s first Most Valuable Player award in 1956, has died. He was 93. His alma mater, LSU, announced Thursday that he died a day earlier. A cause of death was not provided. Pettit was an All-American at LSU before going on to the NBA, where he was an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons, all with the Hawks . He led them to the 1958 championship over the Celtics, the Hawks’ lone title. He also was the league MVP in 1959 and MVP of the All-Star game four times , an achievement matched only by former Lakers great Kobe Bryant . Pettit was a force at a time when the NBA featured t...

ANL/SHUTTERSTOCK Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer makes a flying save Aston Villa’s 1981 First Division titlewinning goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer has died at the age of 78. 15 Aug 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Robert O’Connor PA Media Rimmer, who was ever-present as Villa were crowned champions of England, is best remembered for being forced off with a neck injury after only nine minutes as the team won the European Cup the following year, beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in the final in Rotterdam. It was the second time he had watched his teammates triumph without him in the final having previously been on the bench 14 years earlier when Manchester United beat Benfica at Wembley. In a statement, Villa said: “Aston Villa is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of European Cup winner Jimmy Rimmer, who has died at the age of 78. “The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Jimmy’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time. Rimmer was one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, and arguably...

After being a star player on the Celtics, Don Nelson led several teams over a 31-year career . He was 86.    by GLENN RIFKIN The New York Times  - Martedì 11 agosto 2026  Don Nelson , who won five N.B.A. championship rings as a player with the Boston Celtics and went on to become an innovative and freethinking Hall of Fame head coach and one of the winningest in league history, died on Sunday at an assisted living facility in Frisco, Texas . He was 86. His health deteriorated after a stroke about three weeks ago, his granddaughter Christie Nelson Armstrong said. Nelson, whose N.B.A. playing and coaching careers spanned nearly 50 years , was an unlikely success story, both on the hardwood and on the sideline. Nellie , as he was called, was an undersized small forward and not particularly fast or athletic ; he was twice waived by N.B.A. teams before joining the Celtics in 1965 . But he became an integral part of a Boston dynasty. In his arsenal were a deadly jump sho...

KYLE TERADA/USA TODAY SPORTS - Don Nelson won 1,335 games  as an NBA head coach with the Bucks, Warriors, Knicks and Mavericks. Nelson replaced a legend to become Bucks’ second head coach 11 Aug 2026 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel JR Radcliffe Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - USA TODAY NETWORK – WISCONSIN In 1971 the Milwaukee Bucks became NBA champions under the guidance of Larry Costello , who was the only head coach the organization had known since its 1968 inception. By 1976, however, the Bucks’ fortunes had turned, and Costello resigned under pressure after the Bucks lost 15 of their first 18 games in the 1976-77 season. In Costello’s place, the Bucks turned to new assistant Don Nelson. A Muskegon, Michigan, native, Nelson played basketball in an Illinois high school and then college ball at Iowa before getting drafted in 1962 by the Chicago Zephyrs (today the Washington Wizards). That kicked off a 14-year playing career that included a short stint with the Lakers and 11 seasons wit...

Mr. Nelson planted a kiss on Red Auerbach’s  head during a Celtics legends game in 1995. To Garden fans, Hall of Famer will always be ‘Nellie’ 10 ago 2026 - The Boston Globe By John Powers GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Don Nelson, who won five championships as a versatile player for the Celtics before becoming an innovative Hall of Fame coach for four NBA clubs, died Sunday at 86, his family said. His health deteriorated after a stroke about three weeks ago, The New York Times reported, citing his granddaughter Christie Nelson Armstrong . Mr. Nelson, who spent 11 seasons with Boston after Los Angeles discarded him and another 31 directing from the sidelines , was involved with basketball for nearly a half-century. “Can you imagine doing something that you love the most in the entire world and doing it for your entire life and besides that getting a pile of money for it?” he said. “It’s unbelievable.” Mr. Nelson, whose No. 19 was retired by the Celtics , worked around his limitations to make...

Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson protested a third-quarter call in Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals between the Mavericks and Sacramento Kings at American  Airlines Center on April 24, 2004. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball  Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012. NBA commissioner: Nelson ‘revolutionized’ basketball Second-winningest coach in league and in Mavericks history leaves lasting legacy 10 ago 2026 - The Dallas Morning News By Brad Townsend Staff Writer btownsend@dallasnews.com Don Nelson, the NBA’S second-winningest coach and one of the most transformative figures in Dallas Mavericks history, died Sunday in Frisco, his family confirmed. Nelson, 86, moved from his longtime home in Maui to Frisco early this year, but suffered a stroke about three weeks ago. In recent days he had been in hospice care and was surrounded by family and longtime NBA friends. Among his bedside visitors Saturday, which included a prayer vigil, were fo...