The Night of Pistol Pete - Maravich drops 68 points on the Knicks [HD]

I was a gym rat growing up in New Orleans, finding myself in graduate school in the mid 70s when the Jazz were formed. Happened to be in the right place at the right time when the players from the new team moved into the Metairie area where I lived and started showing up at the YMCA where I was hanging out. Got to know many of the players and would fill out 5 on 5 when they were a player short. Pete was great. Simple. Genuine. Not stuck up. He hung the nickname Mile High on me, not because I smoked dope but because at 5’9” I could stick both hands in the rim. His brother Ronnie often came with him. One time the two of them went to the corner behind the line and shot 35 times. Pete made 34. Another time he was on the track that circled the 2 courts from above and asked one of the kids on the floor to throw the ball up to him. He bet the kid a dollar 💵 that he could bounce the ball off the floor and into the net on one try. He did it. Press came by too. I remember Pete giving him a hard time about his conditioning and bet him he couldn’t do 10 push ups. He couldn’t. Elgin Baylor was the assistant coach and Hot Rod Huntley the radio announcer and they would show up too and get in the pick up games. Man those were the days! I cried when Pete passed away.

He is a rare player to come around . Nobody can compare to Pistol Pete. Talk about originality & brilliance.

I had to watch the whole video again. That backward layup while not looking as he fell to the floor is about the most amazing shot I've ever seen. RIP Mr. Pete you were the greatest!

He still holds the NCAA scoring record 44 points per game, without the 3-point line!🐐

The Elvis Presley of the NBA....Elvis brought Rhythm and Blues to Main Street America; Maravich brought Harlem Globetrotter passing, flair, and skill to Main Street NBA fans. The emotional connection with those Main Street fans remains strong today for both performers.

I was in High School when Maravich was in College. He was beyond belief. Nobody had ever seen anything like him. It's too bad he's always seen as kind of a sideshow. The greatest natural talent ever.

RIP Pete Maravich, and thanks for the unforgettable memories.

Pistol was GOAT, in college, and his college scoring records will probably never be broken. Also, there was no 3 point line when he played in the NBA, so in looking at the game film, he had at least 5 (or more) shots that would have counted for 3 points today, so his point total for the game would have approached the mid 70's, or even close to 80. He left us too early. Rest in peace, Pistol.

Just an old geezer here who remembers watching Pete play live in high school against my school in Durham. Skinniest kid on the floor. So skinny he couldn't keep his socks up. All bones and red socks, but never quit moving... so fast, so quick on a turn, and determined to be the best. Watching him in this game with the Jazz, he's such a better and more mature player than he was in high school.

Nobody in his career made as many wild shots, offhand shots, underhand gliding layups, strong hand and off hand hook shots, double pump shots, no look over the head shots, reverse shots, spinning off the backboard shots, between the leg dribbles, no look passes, behind the back passes than Pistol Pete Maravich.

Can't see anyone better than Pete. He was "The Show." Look forward to seeing him in Glory!

Did you notice Pete actually dribbled the ball legally? Not like today's players who carry it around like they're running backs.

He did it with ONE coronary artery. Beyond amazing.

No doubt of of the greatest players to ever play the game. Pete would play sand lot ball with us at one of the local gyms in BR. I knew his brother and would jog on the LSU track with his father. They were all very nice people. Things have changed ,

There were 2 terrible charging calls on Pistol, the last one causing him to foul out. Otherwise, he would have had well over 70, and that's without a 3 point line! What a treat it was to watch this. What an amazing player he was! So smooth and decisive with the ball....way ahead of his time. My late father was a coach and was a huge Pistol Pete fan. I remember my dad having me watch and study Pete's "Maravich Drills" videos. I practiced these ball handling drills religiously, and used some of them as warm up drills before practice and games. Of course, I (or no one else for that matter) could come close to doing what Pistol could do on a basketball court. Equally amazing, is that Pete accomplished all of this with a defective heart. Thanks for posting this, you made my day!

Pete was one of a kind. He made basketball fun and was the sport's first fashionista with his floppy socks. Pistol sitting in Heaven spinning the ball on his finger and talking to Wilt.

He dribbled and handed the ball like it was attached to his hand.. Better handler Ive ever seen..

It's amazing Pete lived until he was 40 with that hole in his heart. It must have been all the exercise thru basketball that took him that far. With all his dribbling, passing, and scoring abilities, the dude is a top 5 point guard all-time.

I love watching The pistol. His methods of player development are the basis for basketball camps and individual player development. Thank you Pete love you man.

“I learned all my tricks from Pete Maravich,” said Kobe Bryant