Pistol Pete Died 33 Yrs Ago Today

RIP.

PP was brilliant.

Maravich was Johnny Neuman in purple and gold. He would make 3 or 4 magical passes every game but the rest of the time it was Pete shooting from everywhere on the court. I saw him play a couple of games in college and a few times in Atlanta with the Hawks. He was entertaining but not a team player.

Someone needs to do some research on how many great, great players have come out of western Pennsylvania. Pistol Peter had every high school basketball player in the country passing behind their back with floppy socks hanging outside their sneakers. He had his own unique vision of the game and many tried to emulate it but few could do it justice. The guy could shoot the hell out of the basketball from distance. Like 44 points a game in the SEC for his career. You have to wonder just how successful he would be in today's spread basketball with the 3-point bonus.

Yep, we loved Pistol Pete up here in ol' Missourah. He was magic before Magic. I can hear it now...how many points did he score this time???

All of them.

I saw him in person at Memorial Coliseum when I was a kid. We cheered for UK but we also cheered for Pistol Pete. I heard them interview Rupp and ask him why he didn't play a gimmick defense to stop him. Rupp said he was going to stop the other 4 players that we could, and we would win if we did that and we did. Truth was Rupp was a huge fan of Pistol Pete and liked watching him play. Those were fun games with scores well over 100 points. Pete got 65 one game and Dan Issel had 51.

Pete would pull up and shoot 35 foot shots, some went in. It was fun to watch his ball handling and passing. He was a show. RIP Pete. You brought joy to basketball.

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Rupp was a huge fan of Pistol Pete

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Lol well yeah—PP was white

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Pete got 65 one game and Dan Issel had 51.

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Pete had 69 points against Alabama on the road. It was an NCAA record at the time and again no 3-point line He lost in a heart breaker but that was LSU at the time. Crazy talented players every so often and it seems never had enough support to get to the promised land. Hands down, Pistol Pete had the greatest effect on high school, college, and NBA player's style of play than any other person I ever saw.

PP was a magician, and his early death was tragic, but that was still funny.

"But the rest of the time it was Pete shooting from everywhere...." ? I'll take the words of praise from his peers, Bob Cousey, Jerry West, Dr. J, Elgin Baylor, Calvin Murphy, Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Walt Frazier et al, from NBA HOF Red Aurebach, that speak to Pete's overall greatness. If you think he was just a scorer, with a few great passes mixed in, you have no clue about who & what Pistol Pete was all about. He made All Pro 5 times in an era when the league was full to overflowing with HOF'ers. Johnny Neuman could not hold Pete's jockstrap, which is why only old Ole Miss fans even know his name.