Will Pete Maravich Change the Pro Game—Or Will the Game Change Him?

In place of the 1965 Volkswagen he used to get around in, Pete Maravich now drives a 1970 Plymouth GTX with $2,000 worth of accessories including a five-speaker stereo and telephone. A telephone? “Well,” says the LSU All-American who signed a record $1,600,000, five-year contract with the NBA Atlanta Hawks last March, “I wouldn’t need one in Baton Rouge. But Atlanta is much larger.”

The Pressure on Pistol Pete

Today, Pete Maravich is remembered as one of the iconic NBA figures of the 1970s. Less well known is that Maravich entered the 1970 NBA draft as the college superstar whom nobody wanted. For most NBA general managers, drafting Maravich seemed about as dangerous as volunteering to stand blindfolded before a firing squad. The danger came not from Pistol Pete. He was considered a good kid. It was the double-barreled barrage of attention behind him that would be unsurvivable.