Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich

February 1st, 2011 by Bob Lazzari Leave a reply »
"Pete Maravich could do more with a basketball than anybody I have ever seen." --- "The Coach," John Wooden


As kids, we'd play tons of pick-up basketball games at Mark's house in the mid-'70s; we'd play 3-on-3, 4-on-4-really didn't matter as long the teams were even. But before each of our daily tilts—viewed by most of us as nothing less than obligatory sustenance—we'd each pick the ABA/NBA player we were gonna "be" that day.

Mark might be Kareem, Steve maybe Dave Cowens, Jay perhaps Dave Bing or George McGinnis; they'd change guys every so often depending on what pro was playing well at the time.

For me, it was always the same player; I'd just casually call out "The Pistol" when my turn came up—my buddies always kindly allowing me to "be" Pete Maravich knowing he was my idol. Yeah, I could dribble between my legs pretty well and throw behind-the-back passes; a guy like Steve couldn't do those things, so he couldn't "be" Pete even if I was sick and missed a day.

"Pistol," a smiling Jay would often say to me before each game, "time to put on a show." An unworthy, almost-embarrassed yours truly would only say, "I'll try, Jay&m ...

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