Pistol Pete Maravich died 27 years ago today.

Got to meet Pete the first time as a little kid at the Superdome before a Jazz game when I was little. Took a Polaroid of me sitting on his lap. Lost it in Katrina. Was in high school when he died. One of the mothers picking us up for carpool said he had died. Couldnt believe it. Was beyond sad. Pete and Archie were my heroes growing up (and a LOT of other kids in New Orleans).

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He lived with his parents on Chevelle between Old Hammond Hwy and LaSalle Ave. I grew up one block over and we would sit on our Schwinn Stingrays in his driveway and watch him shoot. And my parents would take us to the Cow Palace to watch him play as an LSU freshman on the freshman team which was packed and the place would clear out after it for the varsity game.

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Very cool!

Growing up my dad was my basketball coach and he had all kinds of tapes and stuff of Pete and made me sit through hours and hours of studying his game. It helped me alot though because I was a small white boy with no jumping skills

I learned the art of passing from pete though, 3 things I can do on a basketball court from studying Petes game is dribble drive, Pass and shoot 3s.

Wow. I had no idea he was alive after I was born.

He was a once in a lifetime talent.

The company my dad worked for had box seats at the dome. Many a time I would call Dad and ask if the tix were available.

If they were, I would watch the Jazz from about 15' from the court.


What an experience. From Pistol Pete to
Rich Kelly.

*Flipping Off Bama fans...
*Driving up to Superdome to watch him play for Jazz one night and girlfriend who became my wife talked me out of going... he dropped 61 or 63 that night... And yes we're divorced..
* Watching the piece Dale Brown did on Pete studying every shot he took for 3 years at LSU and determining that he would have averaged 7 3 pointers a game... FOR HIS CAREER and would have averaged 51 plus points a game for 3 friggin years!
* Floppy socks, passes that were unreal and floppy hair...
* Watching him astound Red Auerbach with his passing wizardry... He was the best passer of his era.

The day my sister was born. My mom remembers coming down from all the drugs to all of the nurses talking about it. Never got to see him play but sure do love watching the old clips of him.

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*Driving up to Superdome to watch him play for Jazz one night and girlfriend who became my wife talked me out of going... he dropped 61 or 63 that night... And yes we're divorced..

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Off topic, but similar ... my Dad still tells a story about how my Mom was pissed that he would not stop as they went through NOLA in '75 or so to see Elvis Presley.

And, of course, Elvis didn't live too long after, and Momma was always pissed at him about not stopping.



Not divorced, though ... married 46 years and countin', knock on wood.

Not my story, but my Uncle's.

Apparently back in the day you could go wait at the Cow Palace until tipoff and if there were any empty seats at tipoff, they'd sell those seats. You stood in line for a chance to buy those tickets--often my Uncle would go and wait in line to see if he could get a ticket after school.

One day, he's standing in the driving rain, first in line--right before tipoff. And Governor Jimmie Davis walks by with his entourage. He turns and asks my uncle and his friend, "You boys wanna watch the game?" They said "yes sir". He gives them his tickets and starts to walk off. Then he turns around and asks for the tickets, scribbles something on the back, and says, "If anyone asks why you're in my seats, just hand them the ticket."

Sure enough, they hadn't been seated more than 2 minutes when someone asked. They presented the ticket and were allowed to stay. My Uncle didnt remember what game it was, but he said Pete was always magical to watch and that night was no different.