Pete Maravich

Pete Maravich was an offensive genius. He could do things with a basketball others hadn't even dreamed possible. Always a crowd pleaser, he was a dynamic scorer. "He was an American phenomenon, a stepchild of the human imagination," admired Rich Kelley, one of Maravich's teammates. "He could do things with a basketball that I've never seen anybody do." admired Warriors great Rick Barry.

Maravich played his college ball at LSU, for his coach/dad Press Maravich (a former pro). LSU was a football college, but the Maravich's were out to change that. Maravich scored 43.8, 44.2, and 44.5 ppg in the 1968-1970 varsity seasons, leading the NCAA in scoring each year. He scored 50 plus points in an amazing 28 games! He owns NCAA records for points in a season (1,381), points in a career (3,667), highest career scoring average (44.2 ppg), most field goals made in a career (1,387), and most field goals attempted (3,166). All of this without a three point shot! It is estimated if there had been a three point shot, Maravich would have averaged over 50 ppg each year!

Pete then went on to the NBA, drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. However, his teammates never really accepted this high paid, high rated rookie. Maravich finished a close second in Rookie of the year voting. Eventually he went to the New Orleans Jazz, a struggling franchise team, then the Celtics. After a ten year, 5-time all-star, career, he retired. He had led the league in scoring in 1977 with a 31.1 ppg average, and held a career average of 24.2 ppg.

However, throughout his stellar basketball career he never won a championship. Thus, some basketball purists question how he got named to the NBA's 50 greatest players list. However, those who really do know the game do not. Such as "Easy" Ed Macauley, also one of the greatest players to play. "Pete does things that make you say to yourself, 'Wait a minute, let me see you do that again.' It's like demanding an instant replay just so you can believe the incredible thing you've seen. Let me give you an example. I watched him pull off a stunt against Kentucky that made me shake my head, just as it would have made Red Auerbach or Red Holzman or Richie Guerin shake their heads. Pete came dribbling down the court right-handed, passed the ball between his legs, picked up the ball with his left hand, dribbled clear, and dropped in as pretty a lefthanded hook shot as you ever saw-from thirty feet. I haven't seen a ball-handler like him since Bob Cousy and Dick McGuire were in their prime. Pete can rip a team to shreads with his passes, just as Cousy and McGuire could. But each of them had weaknesses as a shooter. Maravich has none. He can pop 'em in, long or short, right or left. There isn't a shot he can't make." The legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, stated this, "I don't mind saying I was glad to see him graduate. We were able to go back to concentrating on how to stop human shooters."

SEASON	TEAM	G	FGM	FGA	PCT	FTM	FTA	PCT	REB	AST	PTS	APG	PPG
70-71	HAWKS	81	738	1613	.458	404	505	.800	298	355	1880	4.4	23.2
71-72	HAWKS	66	460	1077	.427	355	438	.811	256	393	1275	6.0	19.3
72-73	HAWKS	79	789	1788	.441	485	606	.800	346	546	2063	6.9	26.1
73-74	HAWKS	76	819	1791	.457	469	568	.826	374	396	2107	5.2	27.7
74-75	JAZZ	79	655	1562	.419	390	481	.811	422	488	1700	6.2	21.5
75-76	JAZZ	62	604	1316	.459	396	488	.811	300	332	1604	5.4	25.9
76-77	JAZZ	73	886	2047	.433	501	600	.835	374	392	2273	5.4	31.1
77-78	JAZZ	50	556	1253	.444	240	276	.870	178	335	1352	6.7	27.0
78-79	JAZZ	49	436	1035	.421	233	277	.841	121	243	1105	5.0	22.6
79-80	JAZZ-CELTICS	43	244	543	.449	91	105	.867	78	83	589	1.9	13.7
TOTALS		658	6187	14025	.441	3564	4344	.820	2747	3563	15948	5.4	24.2

"Pistol" Pete Maravich