Pete Maravich facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pete Maravich

Maravich with the Jazz in 1977
Personal information
Born	(1947-06-22)June 22, 1947 Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 5, 1988(1988-01-05) (aged 40) Pasadena, California, U.S.
High school	Daniel (Central, South Carolina) Broughton (Raleigh, North Carolina) Edwards Military Institute (Salemburg, North Carolina)
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	197 lb (89 kg)
Career information
College	LSU (1967–1970)
NBA Draft	1970 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Pro career	1970–1980
Career history
1970–1974	Atlanta Hawks
1974–1980	New Orleans / Utah Jazz
1980	Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
5× NBA All-Star (1973, 1974, 1977–1979) 2× All-NBA First Team (1976, 1977) 2× All-NBA Second Team (1973, 1978) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1971) NBA scoring champion (1977) NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th) No. 44 retired by Atlanta Hawks No. 7 retired by Utah Jazz No. 7 retired by New Orleans Pelicans 2× National college player of the year (1969, 1970) 3× Consensus first-team All-American (1968–1970) 3× SEC Player of the Year (1968–1970) 3× NCAA season scoring leader (1968–1970) NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader No. 23 retired by LSU Tigers First-team Parade All-American (1965)
Career statistics
Points	15,948 (24.2 ppg)
Rebounds	2,747 (4.2 rpg)
Assists	3,563 (5.4 apg)

Peter Press Maravich (pronounced MAIR-ə-vitch; born June 22, 1947 – died January 5, 1988), was a famous American professional basketball player. He was known by his cool nickname, Pistol Pete.

Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and grew up in the Carolinas. He became a star college player for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers basketball team. His father, Press Maravich, was actually the team's head coach!

Pete Maravich holds the record as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I college basketball. He scored an amazing 3,667 points and averaged 44.2 points per game. He achieved all this before the three-point line and shot clock were even invented. Also, back then, freshmen couldn't play on the main varsity team.

After college, he played for three different National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Injuries made him retire in 1980 after a 10-year professional career. Pete Maravich was one of the youngest players ever to join the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Many people think he was one of the most creative offensive players and best ball handlers of all time. Sadly, he died suddenly at age 40 in 1988 while playing a pickup game. This happened because of a heart problem he didn't know he had.

Early Life and Basketball Dreams

Pete Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, a steel town. From a very young age, he amazed his family and friends with his basketball skills. He had a close but strict relationship with his father, Press Maravich, who was a former professional player and coach. His dad started teaching him basketball basics when Pete was just seven years old.

Young Pete practiced for hours every day. He worked on ball control tricks, fancy passes, fake moves, and long-range shots. He loved basketball more than anything.

Pete played high school basketball at Daniel High School in Central, South Carolina. He even played on the varsity team a year before he was old enough to officially attend the school. Later, his father became a coach at North Carolina State University, and Pete moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. There, he attended Needham B. Broughton High School. This is where he got his famous nickname, "Pistol Pete." He got it because of the way he shot the ball from his side, like he was holding a revolver.

After graduating from Broughton in 1965, he went to Edwards Military Institute, where he averaged 33 points per game. Pete didn't really like school, but his father was very protective and made sure he stayed focused on basketball.

College Career at LSU

Back then, college rules didn't let first-year students play on the main varsity team. So, Pete Maravich had to play on the freshman team at LSU. In his very first game, he scored 50 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and made 11 assists!

Maravich at LSU in 1967

In just three years on the varsity team at LSU, with his father as coach, Maravich scored an incredible 3,667 points. He led the NCAA in scoring every single year he played, averaging 44.2 points per game over 83 games.

His college scoring record is even more amazing for a few reasons:

• First, he couldn't play on the varsity team as a freshman. This meant he missed a whole year of adding to his record.
• Second, Pete played before the three-point line existed. If his long-range shots had counted for three points, some say his average would have been around 57 points per game!
• Third, there was no shot clock in college basketball yet. A shot clock makes teams shoot faster, which usually means more points are scored in a game.

Even after more than 50 years, many of Pete Maravich's NCAA and LSU records still stand. He was named an All-American three times. He helped turn around LSU's basketball program, which was not very good before he arrived.

College Statistics

Here are some of Pete Maravich's college stats:

Freshman Year (Not Official NCAA Stats)

At this time, freshmen did not play on the varsity team. These stats do not count in the official NCAA record books.

Varsity Years (Official NCAA Stats)

Professional Basketball Career

Atlanta Hawks

Maravich in 1970

The Atlanta Hawks picked Pete Maravich third overall in the 1970 NBA draft. He joined a team that already had a great scorer, Lou Hudson. Pete's flashy style was very different from his teammates' more traditional play. Also, some veteran players were not happy about the large $1.9 million contract Pete received, which was a lot of money back then.

In his first season, Pete played 81 games and averaged 23.2 points. This earned him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team. The Hawks made it to the playoffs but lost in the first round.

Pete had a tougher second season, with his scoring dropping a bit. But in his third season, he really shined! He averaged 26.1 points and 6.9 assists per game. He and Lou Hudson both scored over 2,000 points that season, which was a rare achievement. Pete was chosen for his first NBA All-Star Game and made the All-NBA Second Team.

His fourth season (1973–74) was even better for him personally. He averaged 27.7 points, second-highest in the league. He also started in the All-Star Game. However, the Hawks didn't make the playoffs that year.

New Orleans Jazz

Maravich (with the ball) driving past Tom Van Arsdale in 1974

In 1974, a new team called the New Orleans Jazz was starting in the NBA. They wanted an exciting player to get fans interested. Pete Maravich was perfect because of his exciting style and his fame from playing at LSU. The Jazz traded several players and draft picks to get him.

The new team struggled in its first season, winning only 23 games. Pete scored 21.5 points per game, but his shooting percentage was the lowest of his career.

The Jazz tried to get better players to help Pete. In their second season (1975–76), they improved a lot, winning 38 games. Pete missed some games due to injuries but still averaged 25.9 points. He was named to the All-NBA First Team that year.

The next season (1976–77) was Pete's best in the NBA. He led the entire league in scoring with an average of 31.1 points per game! He scored 40 or more points in 13 games and 50 or more in four games. His amazing 68-point game against the New York Knicks was the most points ever scored by a guard at that time. Only two other players had ever scored more in any position. Even with Pete's incredible play, the team still missed the playoffs.

Pete earned his third All-Star appearance and was named All-NBA First Team for the second year in a row.

In the 1977–78 season, knee injuries forced him to miss 32 games. Even with injuries, he still averaged 27.0 points and 6.7 assists. He helped new teammate Truck Robinson have a great season. The Jazz almost made the playoffs for the first time.

Knee problems continued to bother Pete for the rest of his career. He played in only 49 games during the 1978–79 season. He still averaged 22.6 points and made his fifth and final All-Star appearance. But his injuries affected his play. The team was also having money problems. In 1979, the Jazz team moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Final Season

Pete Maravich moved with the team to Utah, but his knee problems were worse than ever. He played in only 17 games early in the 1979–80 season. The new coach had a rule that players who didn't practice couldn't play in games, so Pete often sat on the bench.

In January 1980, the Jazz released Pete. He then signed with the Boston Celtics, which was the best team in the league that year, led by rookie superstar Larry Bird. Pete took on a new role, coming off the bench to provide offense. He helped the Celtics have the best record in the league. For the first time since his early career in Atlanta, Pete got to play in the NBA playoffs. The Celtics lost in the Eastern Conference finals.

Realizing his knee problems wouldn't go away, Pete retired at the end of that season. The NBA had just added the 3-point shot for his last season. Pete was always known for his long-range shooting. Even with his injuries, he made 10 out of 15 three-point shots, giving him an amazing 66.7% success rate from deep.

During his ten years in the NBA, Pete Maravich played in 658 games. He averaged 24.2 points and 5.4 assists per game. In 1987, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His No. 7 jersey has been retired by both the Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans, and his No. 44 jersey by the Atlanta Hawks. In 2021, he was named one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history.

NBA Career Statistics

Here are Pete Maravich's NBA statistics:

Regular Season

Playoffs

Later Life and Passing

After his basketball career ended in 1980 due to injuries, Pete Maravich spent two years mostly by himself. He said he was looking "for life" and tried different things like yoga and Hinduism. He also became very interested in ufology, which is the study of UFOs. He even became a vegetarian.

Eventually, he became a born-again Christian. A few years before he died, Pete said, "I want to be remembered as a Christian, a person that serves Him [Jesus] to the utmost, not as a basketball player."

On January 5, 1988, Pete Maravich collapsed and died from heart failure at age 40. He was playing a pickup basketball game in California. An examination showed that he had been born with a rare heart problem: a missing left coronary artery. This artery supplies blood to the heart. His other artery had been working extra hard to make up for it.

Legacy

Pete Maravich left behind his wife, Jackie, and his two young sons, Jaeson and Josh. They were only 8 and 5 years old when he passed away.

Even though they were very young, both sons grew up loving basketball. They were inspired to play high school and college basketball, with Josh even playing at his father's old college, LSU.

In 2014, there was a proposal to build a statue of Pete Maravich outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at LSU. In 2016, the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame Committee approved the idea. On July 25, 2022, the statue was finally unveiled to the public.

Memorabilia

Because Pete Maravich died so young and was such a unique player, items connected to him are very valuable to collectors. Game-worn jerseys of his sell for tens of thousands of dollars. A game-used LSU jersey sold for over $94,000 in 2001. The signed game ball from his 68-point game in 1977 sold for over $131,000 in 2009.

Honors, Books, and Films

• In 1970, a song called "The Ballad of Pete Maravich" was released.
• In 1987, Pete co-wrote his autobiography, Heir to a Dream. It talks a lot about his life after basketball and his Christian faith.
• He also made a four-episode basketball teaching video series called Pistol Pete's Homework Basketball.
• After Pete's death, LSU's basketball court was officially renamed the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
• In 1991, a movie about his eighth-grade season, The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend, was released.
• In 1996, Pete Maravich was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He was the only player on that list who had passed away. His sons represented him at the ceremony.
• In 2001, a 90-minute documentary film, Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich, was shown on CBS.
• In 2005, ESPNU named Maravich the greatest college basketball player of all time.
• In 2007, two biographies about him were released: Maravich and Pistol.
• In 2021, Maravich was named a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

Collegiate Awards and Records

• He was named College Player of the Year by various groups in 1969 and 1970.
• He was a three-time All-American (1968, 1969, 1970).
• He led NCAA Division I in scoring every year he played varsity (1968, 1969, 1970).
• His #23 jersey was retired by LSU in 2007.
• He holds the NCAA career records for:
  • Points: 3,667 (in three seasons)
  • Highest scoring average: 44.2 points per game
  • Points in a season: 1,381 (1970)
  • Games scoring 50 or more points: 28

NBA Awards and Records

• NBA All-Rookie Team (1971)
• All-NBA First Team (1976, 1977)
• Five-time NBA All-Star (1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979)
• Led the league in scoring (31.1 ppg) in 1977.
• Scored a career-high 68 points against the New York Knicks on February 25, 1977.
• His #7 jersey was retired by the Utah Jazz (1985) and the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) (2002).
• His #44 jersey was retired by the Atlanta Hawks (2017).
• Named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996) and NBA 75th Anniversary Team (2021).