Happy New Year!
Growing up playing basketball, as a scrawny little kid, Pistol Pete Maravich was an inspiration for me. His dedication, nay obsession, to the fundamentals were the foundation for his success. He was the OG long range shooter with an uncanny passing ability, aka Showtime before Showtime existed. Maravich still holds multiple collegiate records despite three main factors working against him: 1) he could only play 3 years because of NCAA rules barring freshman from playing on the varsity team, 2) there was no 3-point line, and much of Maravich’s shots came from downtown, and 3) there was no shot clock, which was eventually developed to speed up game play providing for more opportunities to score. Maravich’s sterling professional career, with multiple all-star appearances and scoring titles, was cut short due to injuries, but was still enough to make an impact on the game and establish him as one of the all-time greats. Sadly, in 1988, he died, suddenly, at the age of 40 due to a congenital heart defect. Wondering how good Pete actually was, check out this short video.
Mahalo Nui,
