Pistol Pete Maravich Biography (Bio)
Dribble and shoot. Dribble and shoot. Dribble the basketball and shoot. Pistol Pete Maravich once estimated that, by the time he reached his 18th birthday, he had spent over 25,000 hours with a basketball in his hands. It was therefore no surprise when this son of a big time college coach grew up to become the most prolific scorer in NCAA history and the best pure ballhandler the pros had ever seen.
Pistol Pete Maravich put points on the board, and he did it with style. Pistol Pete's behind the back pass and between the legs dribble became standard fare in the NBA. Pete Maravich combined his magical ball-control skills with the quickest first step in basketball, and the points just kept on coming. And coming. And coming.
For the first 23 years of his life, Pete Maravich lived a basketball dream. The son of a coach, Pete Maravich grew up to be the star of his father's LSU basketball team and destroyed every record in sight along the way. When Pistol Pete Maravich graduated, he signed a million dollar deal to play in the NBA. That's when his dream turned into a nightmare.
The problems started early in his rookie year with the Atlanta Hawks. The team had finished first in the Western Division the year before by playing unselfish, well balanced basketball. This contrasted with Pistol Pete's style. In high school and college he had always been the main man, and with the Atlanta Hawks, he found it hard to function as part of a team. That year, Atlanta fell from 48-34 to 36-46.
It wasn't until his third season that Pete Maravich finally learned he could use his talents to make his teammates more effective. When he did, the Atlanta Hawks became winners and Pistol Pete became a bonafide star in the NBA.
The success of Pete Maravich however, was tempered by tragedy. His dad lost his job at LSA, and his mother took her own life soon after. In 1974, Maravich was traded to the expansion New Orleans Jazz, a team willing to mortgage its future for a little flash and flair. As the main attraction, Pete Maravich was expected to score as much as possible and for five seasons he did just that, leading the NBA in scoring once and averaging more than 25 points three times.
By 1980, a life of basketball had taken its toll on Maravich's body. His 10 NBA seasons, though tained by disappointment, had been among the most brilliant in history, and in 1986 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Two years later, in a pickup game, Pete Maravich suffered a heart attack and died. An autopsy showed that he was born without a left coronary artery. It is a medical miracle that Pete Maravich played basketball at all, let alone become a Hall of Famer in the NBA.
Pistol Pete Maravich put points on the board, and he did it with style. Pistol Pete's behind the back pass and between the legs dribble became standard fare in the NBA. Pete Maravich combined his magical ball-control skills with the quickest first step in basketball, and the points just kept on coming. And coming. And coming.
For the first 23 years of his life, Pete Maravich lived a basketball dream. The son of a coach, Pete Maravich grew up to be the star of his father's LSU basketball team and destroyed every record in sight along the way. When Pistol Pete Maravich graduated, he signed a million dollar deal to play in the NBA. That's when his dream turned into a nightmare.
The problems started early in his rookie year with the Atlanta Hawks. The team had finished first in the Western Division the year before by playing unselfish, well balanced basketball. This contrasted with Pistol Pete's style. In high school and college he had always been the main man, and with the Atlanta Hawks, he found it hard to function as part of a team. That year, Atlanta fell from 48-34 to 36-46.
It wasn't until his third season that Pete Maravich finally learned he could use his talents to make his teammates more effective. When he did, the Atlanta Hawks became winners and Pistol Pete became a bonafide star in the NBA.
The success of Pete Maravich however, was tempered by tragedy. His dad lost his job at LSA, and his mother took her own life soon after. In 1974, Maravich was traded to the expansion New Orleans Jazz, a team willing to mortgage its future for a little flash and flair. As the main attraction, Pete Maravich was expected to score as much as possible and for five seasons he did just that, leading the NBA in scoring once and averaging more than 25 points three times.
By 1980, a life of basketball had taken its toll on Maravich's body. His 10 NBA seasons, though tained by disappointment, had been among the most brilliant in history, and in 1986 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Two years later, in a pickup game, Pete Maravich suffered a heart attack and died. An autopsy showed that he was born without a left coronary artery. It is a medical miracle that Pete Maravich played basketball at all, let alone become a Hall of Famer in the NBA.
Pistol Pete Maravich Biography - Did You Know?
- Pete Maravich at Age 2 - Carried a basketball around instead of a teddy bear
- Age 13 - An accomplished dribbler, he maid point guard on his high school team, we he and his brother Ronnie took their team to the state semi finals.
- Age 17 - Embarrassed by his size 15 feet, Pete begins to wear trademark floppy socks to hide them.
- Age 19 - Pete Maravich averages 43.6 points per game in his freshman year at LSU, where his dad is his coach.
- Age 20 - Leads nation in scoring, named All American for first of three straight years.
