Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Sunday, there are 58 days remaining.Before there was LeBron there was ... Bob Pettit? That might not be the comparison you'd expect, but you can't forget Pettit when you discuss LeBron's famous Game 5 in 2007. In Game 6 of the 1958 Finals, with the St. Louis Hawks leading the series 3-2 over the Boston Celtics, Pettit had the game of his life: 50 points, including 19 of his team's 21 fourth quarter points.
The championship -- still the only title in Hawks history -- came one year after the Celtics beat Pettit and St. Louis in double-overtime of Game 7 for Bill Russell's first ring. That game and Pettit's 1958 triumph are discussed in this video.
The Hawks and Celtics met again in the 1960 and 1961 Finals. Each ended with Boston wins. Pettit made the All-Star team every season until his retirement, and finished his career with two MVP trophies. He played for the Hawks his entire career, and gave St. Louis its sole basketball championship. That's still one more than Atlanta has in 41 years of action.
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He was also a virulent racist.
So, there's that.