Pistol Pete Maravich - Up Close with Roy Firestone

Ground moves changed the way the Bayou Bomber, as it was affectionately called, was played. He had a notable career at Louisiana State University for three years. He led the NCAA in scoring with an average of 44 points per game. This king of the long ball played almost all of his college years. and his professional career before the three-point shot was indoctrinated, Maravich still holds the NCAA record for most career points with 3,667, but his two most memorable points may have come in his junior year during a game against Georgia . Let's go back to his third year at LSU.

In the last game against Georgia, you have to remember it because it was one of the most spectacular endings to the season I have ever seen against Georgia. You hit a bucket to go to overtime and then in overtime you eliminated it. a 90-second basketball dribbling clinic for 14,000 people in this arena when three defenders came to cover you on the last shot of the game, you connected with a 35-foot jumper (it wasn't actually a jumper, but I thought the shot, I mean, I haven't done it. I got a 35 foot hook and is it true that the Georgia cheerleaders carried you off the court?

Well, what happened when you left the court? I noticed that all the Georgia defenders were coming at me and leaving all my teammates open, of course. There was only like four seconds on the clock, so with two I just let it fly by our bench and after letting it fly I just walked off the court behind a bench into the locker room and it just so happened to walk in, so the Georgia cheerleaders came. Running up a ramp brought me down, put me on his shoulders and what the Georgia players say, well, they were mostly congratulated, they were part of it, but it was the end of a season and I guess that shot has become legendary. and the fact that it went from 35 to 45 to 55 and still going, but it was exciting, it was an exciting era for me, yeah, SEC basketball in that era and seeing the people that wanted to get in, you know, I mean , they broke windows to get in and watch us play knights in Southern California, they broke windows, they got ladders, they climbed through the windows and knocked down a security guard, fifty players.

I mean, 50/50 fan, there were myths and legends associated with Pete Maravich. I want to know the truth about some of these stories, first of all, that the Globetrotters offered you a contract to be the first white Globetrotter, yes, that's true, yes. They offered me a million dollar contract to play for the Globetrotters and I was like that during my last year in college when I went back and forth analyzing who I wanted to play for, of course I had an ABA that was being pursued by the Carolina Cougars. I was dealing with it, I was dealing with it basically with the Atlanta Hawks and also the Harlem Globetrotters, so I basically had three ways to go in three directions and it was a lot of praise.

I guess a lot of people can say that. What that speaks of the type of player he was, but I consider it a compliment because the game itself today is that type of game, it is a game of spectacular plays and spectacular plays. There were those who were detractors of Maravich even then, many, in fact, a very Notable person named Pat Riley said in 1978 that Maravich is the most overrated superstar who ever lived. Every guard in the league wants to send a limo to pick Pete up at the airport and play against his soft defense. I don't think Pete could play any other way.

I don't think he wants to be great. Would Pat change his mind today or do you think he would keep it well. I don't know, you know, I like that a lot. I think he's a You know not only is he a very successful coach, but I think he's a very hard working coach and you know everyone has an opinion about people. I and I often think about it, you know, when I played against different players, etc. He would go to the locker room and look at the stats like anyone else and they would say, well, you know he can't play defense or fist if he can't do this without looking, but it turns out that me and I are playing.

We had like 10 or 12 points or 14 points, we don't have 45 or 50 and I say, you know who defends who, but that's part of the game, you know, you get a particular reputation and then it's like taking a Pillow Roy going up to the top of the Empire State Building letting it all hang letting all the feathers go out and then two days later trying to get every feather back you can't do it and once that reputation is established you can't get them all back. There is a difference between image and reputation. I want to talk about a player who could easily be compared to Pete Maravich and on many levels, and that is Larry Bird.

You played with Larry Bird in your last season in the NBA. The parallels are striking. pure white big shooter, basically tragedies of country boys who grew up, both lost their parents and committed suicide, but there are differences. I wonder if you can compare and contrast Maravich and Bird. Well, what a genius, Larry Bird. I think he is the best. Well, you know, Larry's not really the best rebounder. NBA, he's not the best passer, I don't think he's the best dribbler, he's not the best shooter, he's not the best scorer, he's just the best and I think the reason for that, Roy, is the fact that you do more than play with Your feet, I can name several coaches who said Larry Bird would never make it to the NBA because he was too slow, but there are certain players with instinct like Larry Bird, a guy like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who are very much ahead. on. everyone else the way they think the game of basketball can't, can't, can't be practiced, that's something that God has given us and Larry Bird has that, as far as comparing it to me, I couldn't.

He didn't compare it to me at all. I don't like comparisons at all, but I think he is perhaps the best player today. I don't think he's the greatest of all time because that leaves out my son, but others. Beyond that, I'll get to that a little bit, although I think he's the best playing today and of course, again, I don't like comparisons, you can't compare him to Kareem. I think you compare centers, you can compare guards and forwards. More about the final days of Pete Maravich's NBA career, how his creativity made him the player he was and his chance to win that elusive NBA championship next in a

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I think the electrifying way he played and the extravagance he had on the court. The ball magic was like a yo-yo with Pete, so some people who watch this show will say, wait a minute, did he forget about Michael Jordan, did he forget about Shaquille O'Neal? No, I will never forget either of them. I think so. was top offensive player welcome back from gym rat to NBA Hall of Fame Pete Maravich became a scoring machine for both the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Jazz after his accomplishments at LSU a variety of offers came from the NBA, the ABA and the Harlem Globetrotters, which at the time was an all-black organization, chose the NBA and signed what was at the time the highest-paying contract in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks.

He was a five-time All-Star and led the league in career scoring in 1977. His accomplishments aside, Maravich was never successful in the title chase. His lackluster playoff appearances only fueled basketball purists who continually criticized Pete for his selfish play. Many felt he put style over substance in his tenth and final season. Pete Maravich finally had a chance to win an NBA title. When he teamed up with the Boston Celtics and rookie Larry Bird, it wasn't unusual for you to be a Celtic so late in your career after your skills had faded. I mean, if there was a team that Pete Maravich would have loved to play for the people.

I mean, how can you say he was a flashy guy? The Celtics aren't flashy, but you were actually a basketball purist on many levels. You finally go to the Celtics after 10 years in the NBA and you really don't have it. Even though you retired before their championship season, one thing you wanted, the ring, eluded you and, again, was it strange to play for anything? Well, it was at that point in my life because I was really physically exhausted, especially mentally exhausted. I really did it and I knew that I came south there was a winning team and I knew there would be some jealousy, some envy there because you know why we need it, we know where to find it, we're in first place and everything else, but it was really a nice moment for me to finally be able to play for a team that I knew when I left the locker room that we were going to win.

I'd never had that before so it was really a good thing at the time Bill Walton had said that the worst thing that can happen to a professional basketball player is to be the best player on a bad team because no matter what happens you will always be considered a loser Lew Hudson, his teammate echoed. those thoughts, how do you relate to that? Well, there's no doubt about it. I think geographically, if everyone could name where they wanted to play basketball, they play in Los Angeles or Boston, I mean, that's all because they're winning, the traditions are going to win every year and They'll always be on top, but you know I can't designate where I'll be and I know that during the times that I played professional basketball, which were very bad times, you know you either win or lose, so it's a flesh trafficking business and I know that I went through a lot of adversity, but through That adversity I grew a lot and I think that's one of the things you really have to do, but you have to learn. through adversity, if everything goes well for you, then maybe you don't know later in life, when you're not playing basketball and you find the cameras, what's going on in your life.

Can we talk for a few moments about the exploitation of Pete Maravich in In the sense of this, they clearly paid you very well, but they exploited not the brilliance, not the basketball brilliance, not the gifts, but the showmanship, the theater, you just talked about it for a second, well I guess so. You've known this since I was maybe 12 years old. Roy I, 19, threw a behind-the-back bounce pass and during a junior varsity game between the defenders' legs I looked around and saw the fans and how excited they were, that was back in 1959 and I saw the excitement of the entertainment. that thing that you could give to people and they would really enjoy it, so I wanted it to be like a drug incentive for me and that's the way I learned the game anyway, my father had developed so many different types of creative foundations to avoid boredom and because I played six to ten hours a day every day 90 days during the summer and you know I would do incredible things, you know I would dribble blindfolded around the house, I would take my basketball to bed I would go to bed there after my mother kissed me, she tucked me in, I was there and I shot the ball in the air, she said control with the tips of my fingers, turn back, father, is it true that your father took you to school every day? mornings and right next to the car you haggled?

Well, not every day, but that was at some point, but sometimes he would catch me the first time we went out on a road that was straight and he would tell me to get off the side of the car and dribble and I would. I told him I said dad you're crazy he said do what I tell you and I didn't really know why I did that but now I know and the reason is because he was building levels of trust in me and that's when there was no one around. In doing that, I came here this morning on a freeway and I didn't see my dribble the bomb, so you know yeah, and you don't see a lot of that element, yeah, I don't see that when we come back more on the man. who shaped Pistol Pete's career and Maravich's legacy continues from father Press the Sun Teeth and from father Pete, two sons Jason and Josh at camp this summer train with an afternoon at my camp in North Carolina and They were making fun of him and said: I bet you can't even make a free throw.

You know you're only 8 years old. You can't even around Priory. I bet I can and he said, "Okay, go ahead and start shooting on May 27. I was behind this. Welcome back to the ESPN Zone on Roy Firestone, this is a

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classic, the close relationship of a father and his son, Press and Pete Maravich were similar in many ways, what stands out most, without a doubt, is the obsession they shared with the sport of basketball. Press Maravich had played both professional basketball in the National Basketball League. as in the Basketball Association of America, he also coached and scouted during his adult life under the tutelage of the press.

Pete learned the discipline and finer points of the game; his dream was to revolutionize the game of basketball and he did so indirectly by. through his son, the author of a book called Heir to a Dream. Pistol Pete lived not only his own dream but also his father's. I think your greatest hero might have been your father's press. Without a doubt, he is the best coach. Did you ever play before we talked about you, Dad, I want you to take a look at a quote: David Halberstam of intramural sports, back in 1980, said this about the press, the press, consciously or unconsciously, gloria din Pete sagiv mountains reflected Fame father and son with identities by thewell either of the two do you agree, not really III I would say that the title of the book says that it is heir to a dream that my dad always had a dream to fulfill and that dream was basically to make basketball something that was not stagnant or As fundamental as it was, he wanted to rise, he wanted to revolutionize himself and because of the war he played professional basketball, he played on the grass and Sanyo, yeah, and he, you know, he was a great basketball player and, in fact, he really delivered. that dream down for me he wanted me to fulfill that dream and really that's what Roy did for free for him I fulfilled his dream of having something to do with elevating the game of basketball to a level where he became much more than just a guy stagnant game that was played in the '50s, but in the '60s, Pete, you're so close to your father, how devastating it was to lose him. very devastating, but in fact I really don't have any pain because the fact that I was there during his last breath I saw my wife take her last breath and I really surprised my wife at that moment my dad I was with him for five straight months Roy 24 hours a day I traveled about 20,000 miles trying to get treatment with him I took him places like he used to take me in the back seat of a car two camps in the summer we were very, very, very close and I think that's a good thing.

I think a father and son should be so close I think today's heroes should be fathers, they shouldn't be an athlete, you can admire athletes, you can admire rock stars, you can admire people, but they should Be the parents, although the heroes of today's children. I think most children like to be like their parents, the ones who are close to them, the ones who show them love, and that's why I was very, very close to him, but I have no pain from the fact that my Dad had made peace. with the Lord and he was so gentle in the last years of his life that it was incredible what happened.

It's interesting because there is another generation of Maravich, like Jason, your eight-year-old son, who is an excellent basketball player. telling me if he would make how many eight of 30 good shots at camp this summer the coaches were making fun of him at my camp in North Carolina and they were making fun of him and saying, I bet you can't even make a free throw, you know he's only eight years old you probably can't even raid he bet I can and he said okay go ahead and he started shooting on May 27th that was behind but you don't train him you said he rebelled against your training, yes, me.

Don't really be honest with you, a girl from NBA Entertainment, Aliya Wilcox, sent me a tape, an all-star highlight tape, this was about a year and a half ago and I said, Jason, I'm going to put this tape here and Look, she said : I do not want to see it. You know he wants to be a basketball player. I thought he was just leaving. Suddenly, in two months, he saw that about 75 times. He knew all the players and, suddenly. It was just something that encouraged him to go play, so now he plays and I have another son, Joshua, who is very aggressive, he is five years old and he could be a great athlete too.

I talked about other great athletes you played with. So people now realize that for one brief shining moment Pete Maravich was teammates with Julius Erving in two games with the Atlanta Hawks. You had 14 assists in one of the games and you said it was a real pleasure to play with Dr. Jay, there was no doubt about it, you know he was a very talented player and I had never played with that type of player as talented as him before, so playing with him knowing that he was playing with him, you know, it's an instinct. type of basketball where you didn't have to wire him to come back through the back door, he didn't have to call a timeout and write him a letter and say look at the guys that were playing, you did this, he just went, threw it away. up there, you jammed it, people went crazy and she had a lot of fun passing him the ball and he was always in the lane, he was always there, so it was fun to play with him there, it was at the end of last year, well.

You know, he's just one of the best basketball players that's ever played, he's just a great human being and he's touched a lot of people and he's touched a lot of kids and everyone that the doctor comes in contact with. He really he plays, you love playing figuratively and literally with Wilt Chamberlain, some of your best competitions were with Will. It was one night, apparently, when you guys were fighting on the court, he said, how high can you get, how high can you jump? and I asked him. him about how - the Japanese said about 14 feet, you said my shot goes to 14 feet and an inch, right, yeah, well that's why I developed a prolate for the first time I played against Wilt in Atlanta, you came to see me in the central circle, he said, now, gun, no.

Don't put the ball in or you have Spalding in your face and I said, well, I'm coming, I'm going to come hard, so I went in the first time, I made fun of him, I did one of the tricks on him, you know? shots with one hand, if he put him in about 16 rows, he said, I told you not to bring him here, you want to tell him that I want to have dinner with you, right, that's right, I'll have dinner with you and then I would come in, develop the professional turn and he would go up and it was like seeing his hand like that and the ball went over him and he was about 1 inch too short but it was a lot.

It was fun to play against him, he was a lot of fun from the beginning and then he started to change, he became the business, actually , when you came to the Hawks as a professional, you developed Bell's palsy, a paralysis in your face, yes, due to the great pressure and anxiety that this generates. The game had caused it to stop being the game you knew, yeah, you know, basically, Roy, it started my third year in college, all of a sudden, when my dad hit me over the head in front of 12,000 people and said I'm the shooters coach.

I started to realize that this game wasn't as fun as it was when I was young. All I wanted to do was play and have fun and that was it, but it really became a business and if you don't want to play sports you don't win either or you lose if you win then you're in all the shows you're in everything you're everything if you lose forget it all they have an opinion about you and that's how the classic returns up close Pete Maravich the person a new lesson to learn this time not in sports but in religion only on ESPN elegant welcome back admired by many for his talent in basketball Pete Maravich did not escape controversy he became quite introspective for a time striving for personal success and seeking his own spirituality, peace and tranquility eventually entered Pete's life but only after facing his demons, Pete Maravich , there were some difficult times, where he drank a lot, stayed out late, got involved in his fights and bars, there were times when he said this to the press.

I wish I were invisible so I could kill the heads of all the rich banking families, redistribute the wealth and make the world a better place and I hope to one day put a big target on the roof of my house accompanied by the words come take me like this. That spaceships could circle and land and take me away, how did you find Roy? This is what I found, yeah, well that was during a period of real searching that started basically after my 15th birthday and I searched for why I'm here and what it is. What is the purpose of this life?

Is it just receiving or giving? What is the purpose and it basically guided me through many different stages of different religions and Hinduism, reincarnation to hypnosis, astral projection, UFOs, no apology. very radical in nutrition and so on with macrobiotics one year vegetarian three years I was in karate yoga trans dental meditation I did all those different rounds looking for a piece looking for something that would last because I couldn't find anything that the world said My success was material things and all those things, but I discovered in 1982, when I became a born again Christian, that it was a Damascus type experience and from that day forward I have been literally transformed by Christ and it has changed my life dramatically.

I can't explain it to people. I no longer intend to make the world Christian. I can't make you a Corvette either, but I can only speak for my shoes and let you know that the joy and peace I have today is greater than the happiness and rewards the world offers. We'll be back with a closer classic after this welcome classic. I'm Roy Firestone, sadly Pete Maravich collapsed and died at the age of 40. He was doing what he loved, playing basketball in a gym in California. Surprisingly, doctors discovered that Pete Maravich had lived his entire life with just one coronary artery instead of too many.

They marvel at how he could have survived, much less lived a life so rigorous that he was chosen. to the Basketball Hall of Fame the year before his death and posthumously selected as one of the 50 greatest players in the NBA, you know, it has been said that the goal is not at the end of the road, but rather it is the road in Yeah. Pete Maravich is The road was a fascinating, he lived his 40 years to the fullest dedicated to his family and thank you for joining us. I'm Roy Firestone, see you next time at a classic up close.