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Pistol Pete Maravich is more than a  basketball virtuoso !

The former best basketball player died on January 5, 1988 at the age of 40 years old, while he was playing a quiet recreational basketball game with Dr. James Dobson and other friends in Pasadena in California.

Later, an autopsy unveiled that Pete was victim of a rare congenital heart failure. What a sad lost for his family and his friends.  All of the lovers of the man and his basketball gifts were inconsolable !  

And my first meeting with Pistol was… !

Unfortunately I saw the light  in 1990 , and I have never had the chance to see Pistol Pete playing basketball in live. When I saw  Pistol Pete Maravich on NBA TV during a vintage report I discovered  this amazing boy for the first time , dropping shoot after shoot  without feeling the fear of the game like nobody before.

I was a ten-year old little boy looking for a historical player while I was amazed by pugilisms of  Jordan, Miller, Pippen, Payton and other greatest.  I was playing basketball and I developed a great love for long shoot exercises to kill basketball players and struggle against myself.

Are you a baller ?

And since this day, I have been looking for a faith and i finally found it in sport and more precisely in basketball throughout the NBA history  directed by the most popular  broadcasters.  Rome was not built-in one day. Traditions and Good manners continue to exist today. I thank  every contributors who are  trying to push the limits of the human spirit.

A steep in history to understand what today represents

I know that I’m making a  large digression but I sharply think that NBA is not what you only watch daily on TV or on You Tube, it’s more than just basketball ! Because the former players are still at large broadcasting games or analyzing it and are applaused by spectators  . Indeed They pass the ball to give to the community. Sharing the ball is the key and I love it !

They are not on the court but next generations need to honor them, because they gave you emotions and trounce your heart during their best fights. Sport is  the vector of universal union !

Two books to reinforce my  idea to be a truly baller according to my goals

Recently I read two  magnificent books , on the one hand ” They Cleared the Lane” written by Ron Thomas dealing with the first NBA’s Black Pioneers who managed courageously to admit black players in NBA to write one of the best book of the history of the NBA.   And on the other hand, the second book , the “own autobiography  of Mike James”.  If you think that the key is to fight for your dreams like Mike James wrote on his autobiography. Don’t give up !

Mike details sharply the hard work , determination and constant struggle to make it in a business that many desire but only few succeed. Is it the American dream ?

I reply not, it’s your personal dream. Writing and working for this article I try to make my passion and my dedication sweat to attrack you in my world. Basketball is what I fancy, but I love the backstage and I want to be an encyclopedia of basketball to reach my goals !

After playing a  large digression let’s return to the real game with Pistol

Pete was victim of his passion for the game. ” I feel really great ” he said. Seconds later, he collapsed on the floor while breathing for the last time.

The legend of Pistol Pete began with remarkable stories of a dude who was  in love with basketball. He was totally obsessed with the game. Crazy of basketball , he practised again and again to perfectly handle the ball !

” I was so dedicated to perfecting my skills that when Mom came in to wish me good night , I was shooting the ball to the ceiling and catching it ” Pistol stated.

He developed his  outstanding capacities by drilling the ball on his two-mile walks to town, alternating hands to become equally adept with both. Hardworking and work ethic and pugnacity are for me the best qualities of Pistol Pete Maravich. Press Maravich, who saw the origins of the professional basketball , his father ,was an overwhelming factor to offer a good science of the game to his son Pistol.

He was known to routinely dribble the ball while riding  a cycle. As his father drive the family car, at varying speeds , Pete would certainly  hang out the window and dribble to practise in every situation. What a risk to try that fantasy tricks ! In his many videos, he advises to try everything to be able to handle the body in every game situation to be clutch. Pistol Pete is definitely a game changer !

3667 points in college for LSU

As a student at Louisiana State University, Pistol established scoring records that still stand today and would probably never be broken  because of the evolution of the game. In Maravich’s senior year, he averaged an impressive 44,5 points per contest , and also set the all-time NCAA career scoring record with 3,667 points before the introduction of the 3 point shot ! I let you imagine how many points he would score with the 3 point contribution.

For me , Pistole Pete stays and would stay the best college  player off all-time as he easily dropped fancy shoots and run the court like nobody in this period. For his prolific career he received  the Naismith Award (male)  in 1970.

Top 10 NCAA players – #1 Pistol Pete Maravich

Among the greatest scorer in the NBA

After a prolific successful college career he was drafted by Atlanta Hawks in 1970 ! He was resented by other rookies players because he was the first rookie in the NBA to get a 1 million contract to play professional basketball !

In the best league the National Basketball League created in 1949 , Maravich continued to display his wonderful play. He was chosen twice during his 10-year professional career to the All-Star team. Last but not least,  he was the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987 , one year before he died ,while playing in a pickup three-on-three game in a California gym.

In 1976-1977 season  Maravich produced his best basketball as a professional. He played in 73 regular seasons games and led the NBA in scoring with a career-best 31.1 ppg. He dropped 40 or more points 13 times, and he paced the league in total points (2,273).

Maravich with his 68 points established the best scoring mark for a guard.

Maravich’s 68 vs.Knicks Shot-By-Shot[2/25/77] in Video

On Feb. 25, 1977, he pitched in 68 points in a game against the New York Knicks Five All Stars despite the efforts of defensive warrior Walt Frazier to bottle him up. Maravich’s show ranks as the 11th-best single-game total in NBA history.

The 1976-1977 season was a great season and opened the road to new teams

To be complete with the history , the 1976-1977 season saw a lot of new facts. The NBA’s main rival league, the American Basketball Association, joined with the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger.

Four ABA franchises completed the NBA: the New York Nets, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs one of the best constant  team in post season .They have made the playoffs in 21 of the last 22 seasons, and have not missed the playoffs in the 15 seasons since Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs in 1997 , and the Denver Nuggets.

And The Portland Trail Blazers won the championship in the first year that they appeared in the postseason . They also become the second team in history (after the 1969 Celtics) to win the NBA Finals after dropping the first two games.  They topped the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals and Bill Walton was elected the MVP Finals.

Oregon is in love with his basketball team.

This year showed how popular was the Oregon Team. Starting on April 5 of that year, the team began an impressive sellout streak of 814 straight games—the longest in sports history—which did not end until 1995, after the team moved into a larger facility the Rose Garden.

The Memorial Coliseum was the former team’s home court, capable of seating nearly 13,000 when organized for basketball.

The Rose Garden opened on October 12, 1995 and has a capacity of 19,980 spectators when configured for basketball and averaged and attendance of 19,773 spectators in this season  (2012-2013) in 15 regular season games.

Boston Celtics was his last basketball theater

In his last campaign 1979-1980 with his many rusty skills , his old knees , and his minutes limited-Pistol Pete Maravich finally got a chance to fire three-pointers. He successfully  bombed 10-for-15 to finish with the uniform of the prestigious Boston Celtics.

Maravich among the best players.

Maravich was a  constant deadly accurate long-range shooter during his career, but  he had never played in a league, college or pro, with the benefit of the three-point shot. All of his many points had come on two-pointers, even when launched from a long distance. In 1979-80, the NBA finally admitted the three-point line.

He finally exploded with 15.948 points in 658 games and dished out a total of 3563 assists.

He converted 6187 field goals for a total of 14025 attempts which mean a beautiful .441 %. He was never below the .40 % in his career. This stat shows all the confidence  he has in his dangerous game .In 37 minutes per game, he averaged 9.4 field goals converted from 21.3 tried and produced a prolific average of 24.2 points per game.

The fancy shoot was his trademark

He was .441 at the shoot, 66.7 behind he arc , and 82.0 with the free throw.

But he only played in 26 playoff games and scored only 487 points in crucial seasons.

Maravich was cited by the Hall as “certainly the greatest creative offensive weapon in history In an April 2010 interview, Hall of Fame player John Havlicek legend of Boston Celtics announced “the best ball-handler of all time was (Pete) Maravich.”

A new life after basketball

When he retired from professional basketball in 1980 because of injuries , Pete intense training program and pursuit of win was over !  But, he needed some other reason to exist.

He found his way in religion after many experiences in astrology, astronomy, mysticism, nutrition and UFO’s.

What a strange decision  to choose that kind of thinks totally different to sport ! He decided to do it at 100% !

His relationship with Jesus Christ

He finally seen Jesus Christ on his road to stay in live and continue to believe in something.  That complex connexion created of new life for him and gave him a new purpose that even game never provided.

In his last years , he devoted his time to helping and advising young people through summer camps and instructional videos that you can find nowadays thanks to YouTube and the World Wide Web. He was sharing his testimony while teaching them about the science of basketball.

His best testimony is his autobiography , Heir To Dream , which chronicles evoke his amazing life and his belief in Christ.

Nowadays, He is loved as a sports legend to millions of fans around the world. And furthermore he was remembered as an endless source of encouragement and wise advice to friends and young  people. Hardworking and patience are the keys to be the master in a field.

Last words to close the  Pistol’s chapter which is still alive

In my eyes, he represented the embodiment of deep-rooted vintage basketball and he ‘s more a guard than a point guard the position whom he played during his career for me.

college record by Maravich

			Totals																Shooting			Per Game
Season	Age	College	G		FG	FGA			FT	FTA								PTS	FG%		FT%	MP	PTS	TRB
1966-67	19	LSU	17		273	604			195	234								741	.452		.833		43.6	10.4
1967-68	20	LSU	26		432	1022			274	338								1138	.423		.811		43.8	7.5
1968-69	21	LSU	26		433	976			282	378								1148	.444		.746		44.2	6.5
1969-70	22	LSU	31		522	1168			337	436								1381	.447		.773		44.5	5.6
Career			83		1387	3166			893	1152								3667	.438		.775		44.2	6.5

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/2/2013.

Discover the great Pistol throughout this mix video