NBA Legends Explain Why Pistol Pete Was On A Different Level 

Pistol Pete is the father of modern basketball. He was doing the moves before they were the moves. He was the man.

Bird and Magic saved the league in the 80's. and BOTH grew up trying to imitate Pistol Pete.

He has been sadly overlooked by the modern generation. He was one of the greatest player of all time.

They should bring back the NBA H.O.R.S.E. competition and give the winner a Pete Maravich trophy. Pistol Pete was an unreal legend!

Pistol Pete was a phenom!!!

Pistol Pete did all of that with a heart defect.

A ball handler that didn't seem to need to palm the ball. What a concept.

While in high school in Oklahoma, our team always went to the All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City. One year 7’2” Artis Gilmore and his Jacksonville team was there, but so was LSU and Pete. Everyone went to the LSU games real early so they could watch Pete warm up. Those dribble drills, 2 balls at once, and slamming it between his legs & catching it behind him like in this video were always done. It was a great trip, now some 55 years ago and still fresh in my mind.

Bro would be insane in the modern day.

Top 5 overlooked athlete from any sport! Pistol was a game changer. Anytime you have Magic say he stole some of your moves! The influence he had to Basketball as a whole is incredible and its sad the way his career and life came to an end WAY to soon. Another great video SD! RIP Pete Maravich.

Real talk PETE WAS SICK WITH IT!!! Dude had skills never seen before during or after and he made it look easy! I'm 62 yrs old so I remember watching him play. He gave defensive geniuses like Walt Frazier fits.

Like many other viewers, Pistol Pete was my idol. NEVER has there been a player so far ahead of his time. TY for highlighting his incredible talent.

I so appreciate that you posted this video. I started playing ball in the early 70s as a young kid who was a minority in a small midwestern town. That combined with the fact that my family was fairly dysfunctional led me to be introverted and pretty much a loner. But basketball was my source of strength and gave me confidence and pride. I became so enamored of Pistol in my middle school years that I started signing all my papers and tests in school with his name. Fortunately, I was a pretty good player and I had understanding teachers who allowed this transgression without discipline. Don't know how I would have grown up without trying to emulate him. He was certainly before his time and I'm glad to see some Hall of Famers give him his due. And I apologize for this being so long.

Julius Erving also said just a few years ago that Maravich was one of only two completely unique basketball players (the other was Tiny Archibald).

Pistol Pete was arguably one of the most underrated players in NBA history. Bird is an icon because he transformed the Celtics and had z3 straight MVPs but Pistol Pete played on lousy teams and not until his last year with Celtics and he unfortunately played limited minutes. He was both a snowman & a skilled basketball savant who was not appreciated except by the pros who played with him or against him! God bless you Pistol Pete!

Thanks, man. Pete was the go-to guy for most teams he ever played on.

Lucky enough to have met Pistol Pete in my youth. Cherry on the cake, 2 summers in a row I was fortunate enough to receive ball handling, passing and jump shooting skills from Pete's dad, the Royalty Press Maravich. I attended basketball camp at, then, Campbell College in NC. Year after year the basketball camp drew coaches and players, both, college and pro, to Campbell. Some of my best memories are from those days, year after year. I took rebounding skills from "The Wizard of Westwood" when I was approximately 12 yrs old, 1972, during UCLA's National Championship streak of 7 NCAA titles in a row. Even then I remember being entranced by the man and the whole scene was surreal before folk's used the word "surreal". David Thompson stands out in mind, I remember him being soft spoken and interested in passing along some of his skills to us young guys. Amazing, Billy Cunningham, Dean Smith, Norm Sloan, Lefty Drisell, Tommy Burleson, Phil Spence, just to name some of the others that made our summer basketball camps, the best around. I was so lucky

Give the man some credit. Exactly. He was inspirational.

I got to attend two years at Pete Maravich's Basketball Camp. What a guy..

I never saw him play live, but based on highlight films, old footage, and his biographies (and movie), Pistol Pete is one of my all time favorites.

Basketball at its purest is an Art Form. And, Pistol Pete was a Rembrandt!

I remember watching the movie of Pistol Pete and liked his handles. I’m pretty sure he still holds a college record for most ppg (44.2), most career points (3,667) , most field goals made (1,387), most attempts (3,166) and most 50 point games (28). He was definitely ahead of his time, too bad he wasn’t able have the same level of success in the NBA as in college.

Being from Louisiana & around during his days @ LSU, I knew who he was and enjoyed seeing him play. I also watched him play in the NBA. IMO, if he had played on better NBA teams, before he got injured, there is no telling how many championships & records that he would have processed. RIP Pistol, you were a joy to watch.

What many don't realize is that Pete was a legit 6'5 who was one hell of an athlete. With all the dazzle in his game it's also lost on many just how great of a jump shooter he was. He got off the floor very quickly had great lift and was able to fade away from his defender. That shot could not be blocked. He would have dominated today's game.

NBA Hall of Famer “Pistol Pete” Maravich was a spectacular showman who helped open up the game of basketball in the 1970s. After a legendary college career at Louisiana State, he played 10 productive seasons in the NBA, earning five trips to the NBA All-Star Game and one league scoring title. But injuries and the weight of expectations took their toll on the man so famously known as "Pistol Pete." With his deep jumpers and fancy dribbling skills, he played in the wrong era and likely would've achieved much more success if he'd come around a few decades later, especially due to the implementation of the three-point arc. Ultimately, Maravich suited up in only 658 career games and didn't add all that many postseason outings to his tally. After all, he won just a single playoff series, and that came late in his career while he was a member of the Boston Celtics. During that series, he was so much of a role player that he wasn't even on the court for 12 minutes per game during the short-lived postseason run.

Just to be clear. What I just saw is 99% of modern NBA (in terms of dribbling and passing at least). Pistol Pete was ahead of time for sure.

He did all this back in the day when traveling, palming and carries were actually called...amazing talent.

Pete Maravich and Joe Namath were my sports heroes as a kid . Still are !

Pistol Pete is in my all time top 5 along with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, & Bill Russell.

Maravich is one of my top 10 players of all time. The amount of work put in to achieve the level of skill is unreal, pure dedication to the art. Yes, if he was on a top nba team he and the team would have dominated. I would really would love to see him on a team where the coach gave him free reign. Just go out there with no pressure, no guilt, play the game. He would have gone next level... started hulking

Speaking of underrated... Tiny Archibald is also seriously underrated.

Wish I could remember who did it but when Pete played there was no 3 point line (the 3 point line wasn't adopted until 1986 in the NCAA.) And someone went back and started charting Pete's shots from LSU and if there had been a 3 point line his numbers would have been so insane that no one would have believed he did it. Pete scored 3667 points in only 3 years at LSU (because back then, freshmen could not play varsity college ball) and that was without the 3 point line. To put that in perspective, the next highest scorer was Antoine Davis with 3664 points but that was in FIVE years WITH a 3 point line. The 3rd highest NCAA Basketball high scorer was Freeman Williams with 3249 points in FOUR years. Pete Maravich was awesome, and if the teams he played on at the beginning of his NBA career had been better managed there's no telling how many rings he could have had. Pete was scary good, but it was practice practice practice, the man was always practicing from the time he first picked up a ball.

I watched Pete during his college years at LSU and NBA years, too. I have never seen a more exciting and accomplished player than Pete. Personally, I think his idol or mentor was the great Bob Cousy of Boston. Pete took Bob's moves to another level.

Thank you so much - warms my heart when someone recognizes just how special Pistol was - he lives on in every player with flair. ✌

Best player ever in my opinion!

Pete could have played in this era. Benefits of science to boot. Man is getting a ring easy.

We had Jazz season tickets in the superdome. That was fun times growing up as a boy watching Pistol Pete. He was AMAZING. If they would have had a 3point line back then the Jazz would have won a lot more games.

"Give the man some credit." - Sean David Thank you. I grew up a Jazz fan and I had heard Hornacek and others refer back to the Pistol Pete era, but it's only recently that I've started to know and appreciate the type of player he was.

Growing up in New Orleans when we had the Jazz, there was no better call than hearing "PISTOLLLLL PETE!" over the PA whenever he scored, but seeing him work that magic with his ball handling and passing was even better! Sadly, (much like Archie Manning and the 70s Saints) for almost all his time with the Jazz, he was the ONLY dude on the team with any talent, and the one year that it looked like the Jazz might make the playoffs, he blew his knee out trying to make a half-court between the legs pass on a fast break and the season pretty much ended that night. Still, he was more than worth the price of admission to see because it was always a show!!

Pistol Pete could do it all on offense in that he could score at a high level, he could pass with the best of all-time, and his ball handling skills were second to none in his era. It took the game being officiated differently and more permissively in modern times for players to be able to handle the ball like the Pistol. The one drawback of Pete's game was his relatively low shooting percentage which was probably due to the level of difficulty of many of Maravich's shots. 💯

Pistol Pete was at least 15 years ahead of his time in both his movements on the field and his vision of the speed of the game

One of the greatest of all time. All the highlights of his career were done primarily on last place teams. He changed the way the game was played.

Best compilation on Pistol Pete I've ever seen. Been a fan for decades and yet saw fantastic Maravich plays I had never viewed before. Huge props, BTM!🏀

The true White Chocolate!

I idolized him as a child and tried to copy so many of his moves! And, I'll always treasure the time I saw him play in person!

It was a thrill to watch him on live TV back in the day. What a great athlete and person he was.

Pistol was such a phenomenal inspiration to those of us playing high school basketball in the 1970’s. Most weekends we were pleased to see him at LSU doing things never seen before, and then going immediately out to try our best to emulate some of his moves. His college scoring is of course legendary, but that was without the 3 point line. Had he had the opportunity to have played with 3 point shots his entire college career, his scoring records would have been significantly higher in the stratosphere. I personally knew another LSU GREAT, Dick Davies, who played for USA in 1964 Olympics, whose brother that I also knew, Bob Davies, seemingly began the dazzle dazzle play even before the great Bob Cousy, but Pete took there savant style of play to completely different SAVANT LEVEL! God Bless you Pete! We Luv Ya Man!

Probably the most Born Too Early player in the history of the sport. Every year that goes by, the league becomes more and more the perfect environment for his skill set. Whether it’s official changes like adding the 3-point line or giving players an extra step, or cultural changes like allowing dribblers to carry or giving shooters the greenest of lights.

Basketball wouldn't have survived as a sport without him

I was a little boy when Pistol was playing at LSU, but my dad recounts the times he watched him play at the old Cow Palace as a freshman in college, and how everyone would pack the place to see Pete play with the JV, and when the varsity played right after, the crowd with trickle out. He WAS the show.

Love seeing everyone appreciating Pete. He was amazing.

Wow, does this video bring back memories. I was a teenager with hopes (dim hopes, haha) of a basketball career, but he not only entertained, he inspired me to play like him. I practiced for hours to emulate his dribbling and passing skills. Not bad, actually. Thanks also for putting commentary from so many great players of that era. I loved them all then, and seeing them in your video put a smile on my face today.

Video well done, content so accurate concerning the Pistol's playing ability. From having the perspective of seeing the Pistol play in college, and then on to the NBA, his ball handling, his shooting, his passing between the legs, and scoring were all wrapped into this one man, making him one of the outstanding NBA players ever to come onto the court. Thanks for this documentary on Pete Maravich aka: The Pistol.

Pistol Pete was just way ahead of the game, he was amazing, so much fun to watch, definitely underrated, one of the best ever 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Pistol Pete was before my time, but damn the dude was clutch !

I think pistol had the best handles of all time, he was a magician out there with the ball

I remember watching him on the tube. I am 74. He was truly a legend in his own time!!

Pete's college record is what is TOTALLY incredible - no three point shot, no shot clock, couldn't play his freshman year - adding that three point shot option alone would've add hundreds of points to his record that still stands today (on the men's side).

The original SHOW TIME! RIP PETE! All time favorite!

No offense to Caitlyn, she’s amazing, but no 3 point line and 3 college seasons makes Pete’s record way more unbelievable and impressive.

Pistol Pete had step curry shooting and magic’s passing skill

Was fortunate to see Pete play live and he was incredible talent.

He spoke at my church when i was 13 years old . Will never forget what a nice guy he was .

Bird and pistol Pete! Amazing!`

he did whatever he wanted, george best of basketball

One of the all time, great, very underated.The man was a wizard on a basketball court.Did things nobody thought of but he did.Unbelievable

The movie "The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend" wasn't made "fer nuttn". He was a legend indeed.

Yeah without a doubt this guy was a monster on the basketball court. My uncle told me to watch him play when I was a kid. Absolute magician with a basketball

4:20 got “PISTOL” on the jersey what!!!!

I grew up in the 70's but I was too young to appreciate his greatness.

Graduated h.s. 1974. He was my idol then and now!

My personal favorite player of all time then its Michael Jordan. I think we only saw half of Pistol's creativity on the court. Wish I could have seen what he did on the court at the time going to a game at that era. Wish he was around longer. He was a gift to the game ! Thanks brotha for your vids ! Always watching your channel !

extremely underrated

Pistol certainly understood the value of giving a show

Bro Pistol Pete is HANDS DOWN one of the best PG’s to ever play and no one in 🇺🇸 disagrees…

Nowadays, players are touted for their handles; but, the criteria was completely different in Pistol's time. Most ball handlers today automatically turn the ball over in their hands while dribbling ( considered a turnover/palming the ball, in the past) which is much easier to do and requires less skill than from Pistol's time. If Pistol played today and had these easier advantages while dribbling; I can't even imagine how much greater he would have been as a ball handler! Same with the three-point line... he would have been historic with that!

The greatest showman, and ball handle skills of any player ever, and up there with larry bird, and magic johnson, and dr jay, in making basketball 🏀, popular. And one of the most underrated players of all time, magic johnson as well as me was totally in awe of this man's game, an influence to magic johnson's game. A great legend . Rip

Easy underrated. If you went by today's rules and all these contested 2pt shots which were no-calls were instead refereed like today, he'd have a FG% of around 50% and tack on about 4+ points to his average simply by way of the free throw line. In addition, he was operating under rules where if your hand went anywhere but the top of the ball, it was a carry violation which was consistently called. To hear two guys I consider among the best and most OVERLOOKED EVER, more than Pete, in Gervin and Elvin Hayes--add Archibald if you want--speak about the man in such terms was stunning. Magic, yeah, that is his obvious favorite coming up as far as the SHOWTIME aspect goes, and it's always been known, but hearing those other OVERLOOKED guys giving credit, especially the famously enigmatic Hayes is insane

Absolutely one of my favorite athletes of all time. When I was a kid I wore the same floppy wool socks as Pistol Pete. The guy was from another planet and is seriously underrated and woefully forgotten.

When I was our HS Varsity point guard in 1972, Pistol Pete was my role model…still the best pure shooter and play maker I ever saw.

A true legend

Only attempted 15 3 point shots made 10! 66 percent from 3 point range. Now I know people will say to small a sample size. Same people would be more than happy to say he was no good if he only made 3 or 4. So I'll just go with he was a shooter.

I saw him play in college he was unbelievable the things he could do, his production career was great too

Awesome Sean..was in love with Pete Maravich as a young teenager...couldn't get enough and still can't. Love his playing..such a talent. Love your channel❤

You got to remember that Pete played in a era where you had to dribble with your hand on top of the ball. If he could carry the ball and change his pivot foot like players today, he'd be averaging 40 a game easy. That's not including the 3 point line.

Pete was "mamba mentality" before mamba mentality...if you're familiar with his upbringing you know what I mean

Thanks so much for creating and posting this video. I loved watching Maravich when I was a kid and this was a real treat to see him in action. I think he doesn't get enough credit for what he brought to the game. Ultimate entertainer, yes, but man he was loaded with talent. One of the best of all time. One of kind.

Pete was a household name back in the day when I was playing ball in middle school. Shame the short memory people tend to have. So many legends from the past that go unmentioned.

Thanks for keeping The Pistol alive. A lot of us grew up in grade school and high school watching him and going out in the yard and making ourselves look foolish trying to imitate his moves. But it was worth it for that every once in a while when you could make something work.

Underrated. Pete put the fun in fundamentals and fans loved him for it.😊

I watched him play twice. Had 44 points in one. About that many in the other. Effortless described it best. Losing efforts however. He got his in the flow of the game. Stuffed the stat sheet. Never remembered his missed shots he was such a dominating force on the court. Always the best player on the floor. All eyes on Pete. He was the man. Still is. Hearing all that love from the greatest who've ever played this game that we loved play is sweet. Great to hear said.. I've been saying it since he was an LSU alum. Boy was cold blooded in college as well. He once said thatcas a kid, on the way to practice, as his dad drove, his dad would make him dribble with one hand going to the gym. Dribbling with the other hand on the way home...out the back window of the family's station wagon. Rock n roll.

My favorite player and my favorite number 44

Imagine how many points he would have scored if they had the 3 point shot in his day

Glad to find this video, Pistol Pete is my favorite of all time; certainly under rated.

Simply put, one of the all time best! RIP Pete.

and no carrying

I like that you keep your videos around 10 minutes.

I was privileged to see Pistol Pete in college and in the NBA he definitely is one of the all-time greatest

Great video!! Thanks for posting!

you forgot to mention about his dad. After his dad dies, everything starts falling apart.