Pistol Pete Quotes

"I'm just trying to push the game to its limits. We have so much to discover in basketball. Ten years from now, a lot of guys will be doing what I do...Every team will have a seven-foot guy on their roster. Basketball has to grow and change if we expect people to keep coming and paying good money."

"This is the greatest honor of my life. Oscar Robertson is the greatest player ever, and I am really fortunate to break his record."

Pete Maravich, aged 12, when asked about his future: "I'm gonna continue to play basketball to the best of my ability. Then, I'll get a scholarship to play college ball...then, I'll play in the pros and be on a team that wins a championship ring--oh, yeah, and they'll pay me a million dollars!"

"No one can really understand fully the uniqueness of my relationship with my father. Nearly every good memory I have includes his face and his words. When he laughed, I was happy. When he suffered through the hardships of coaching, I suffered. When Dad's heart was broken, so was mine. When he sacrificed his love and time for me, I wanted to give it back to him. Because of the years of closeness, I can truly say that whatever happened to him somehow happened to me. The pain of cancer is incredible and surely indescribable, but I can say I felt the pain as I watched my dad asking for morphine to ease it. "
(from Heir to a Dream

"Give the award to my Dad, because he there is no way in the world I deserve the honor before he does." --Pete Maravich, on what he would say if he were given the honor of being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1987, shortly after Press Maravich died.

"As I look back now I finally feel as though I understand my inheritance. Dad handed me something beauitful and precious, and I will always be indebted to him. He gave me his life full of instruction and encouragement. He gave me hope in hopeless situations and laughter in the face of grim circumstances. Dad gave me an exampe of discipline unequaled, dedication unmatched. He gave me the privlege of seeing an unwavering faith when the darkness of life and death surrounded him.

"But, more than anything, my father became a symbol of what love and compassion can do in anyone's life, and I am happy to accept that love as his heir to a dream."
( from Heir to a Dream)

"The real dream Dad had from the beginning for me wasn't a piece of jewelry for my finger or the recognition that I was on the best team in the world. The dream was for us to try to push basketball to the furthest limits possible. His vision saw the basketball court as a spawning ground for physical excitement and originality. The arena was fertile ground for pitting great minds and bodies together for competition."
( from Heir to a Dream )

"The feeling of total emptiness is no longer there. Money can buy you everything but happiness. It can pay your fare to everywhere but heaven. That's what I found out. I also found out if you seek pleasure and happiness you'll never find it. But if you have the wisdom and obedience to seek Jesus Christ, happiness will find you."

Reporter (after Pete had broken Oscar Robertson's record): Pete, how's it feel?
Pete Maravich: It feels great. It feels great....it feels great.
Reporter: What was the shot that did it?
Pete: That last shot did it, it went through didn't it?
Reporter: What kind?
Pete: Jump shot. Jump shot did it.
Reporter: Jump shot--that's your favorite shot?
Pete: That's my favorite shot.

"Sure Dad taught me everything he knew. But he didn't practice for me. How could he? And that was the hard part. All the practicing." (Pete Maravich, responding to the fact that the only reason he was a star was because of his father being the head coach at L.S.U.)

"My shot almost always started from the hip. When I was any distance from the basket I really had to strain to get it up. Someone said it looked like I was handling a pistol, shooting from the hip. And the nickname stuck." (Pete on how he got the nickname "Pistol Pete.")

"I was going to play ball with a friend, Bob Sanford, and I forgot my socks; so I borrowed a pair of old thick gray works socks from him. They were a little large and drooped over my shoes. I had always felt slow because of my big feet, but the floppy socks covered half my shoes and made my feet look smaller and somehow it made me feel faster. I know it's a psychological thing, but I've been wearing them ever since."
"Are they a good luck charm, Pistol?"
"I guess so. But they're also comfortable."
--Pete, on the origin of his "floppy socks."

"I must admit I never really understood why people wanted autographs in the first place; I guess people looked to me as a hero. Webster defines a hero as a man noted for his special achievements. Hero is also defined as a long sandwhich. Since a lot of people called me a hot dog during my career, either definition may have been the reason people wanted my autograph."
(From Heir to a Dream)

"I fervently believed that an athlete, or any young person in general, should have his long-range goals in life planned by the eighth or ninth grade. Though few children considered the next month in advance, I constantly challenged the students in my basketball clinics to start making plans for their futures and stop wasting time.

"The attitude of planning ahead was so natural to me, that I found it frustrating at times when I stared into the empty eyes of listless teenagers. I detected their lack of motivation and focus.

"'You're wasting your lives if you don't settle down and work, work, work,' I told them. 'You will never became a great basketball player if you fail to dedicate yourself one hundred percent to perfecting your game or if you fail to practice.'"
(From Heir to a Dream)

"December 30, 1977

"I have certainly been rambling on, but I pray that before I'm through with this entire life of mine I will be happy, peaceful, and my mind at eas about life and God. How can I be unhappy? It is simple. There are millions of people who have not found a deep sense of purpose and meaning. I am one of them...With all the trophies, awards, money, and fame, I am not at peace with myself."
(From Heir to a Dream)

"Though I was a foot shorter than my teammates, I had the confidence to challenge anyone. And so, the legend of little Pistol Pete began."
(From Heir to a Dream)

"I told Dad that his life was with kids. He'd been saying that himself for years. Plus I wanted to play for him and I always thought he wanted to coach me. It might be tough on us in a lot of ways, but the opportunity to revive basketball at L.S.U. looked like the right thing."

"You really can't see my hands move on this one, they're going so fast. People have sat there and said, honestly, truthfully, that they had no vision of my hands moving. They were a blur. It is that terrific WHAM when I bring the ball down that makes the whole thing so fast. This is a very dangerous drill, actually. I don't think I have to elaborate on how much it hurts if you catch yourself in the crotch off the bounce. I knew one kid who did the bullet ricochet once and ended up in the hospital."
(Talking about the one of his innovative drills, the "Bullet Ricochet.")

"It was a Saturday afternoon and I was in the gym, by myself, as usual. I would spend six to ten hours there. I remember stopping after several hours and starting to cry. I went over to a corner and started asking myself questions. 'Other kids are out swimming and playing. Why am I here? Why do I have this desire? Why am I killing myself?'"

"We had a little goal on a pine tree in the back because our house was in the woods. And it was a very shallow light. And there was a big muddy grid area that was hard. And the rain would pound down on the mud and I would be in my pajamas, put my tennis shoes on, sneak out the window, and go dribble in that muddied area and shoot. Taking my ball and lifting it up to the heavens, letting the rain wash the mud off. Sneak back into the house and go to sleep."

"He jammed me all right. I went for forty-five and fouled him out just after the half. Now that was just stupid of him, saying something like that. If I've got to stick the ball in my pants and jump through the hoop myself to win, I'll do it."
(After a game against Wyoming--their guard, Harry Hall, had claimed he was going to "jam the Pistol" and hold Maravich to just seven points. Ha ha, very funny.)

"I can't see anything wrong with showboating. I think basketball's the most exciting game in the world. It's entertainment, or it should be, for both the players and the fans. It's something you just have to feel. The people are so close to you. You can see their faces and they can see yours, not like some football game where you're fifty miles up in the boondocks, trying to make out some guy's number. It all happens right there in basketball. I mean they can see you sweat. Look, I don't criticize the way people play. If they can't or don't want to do any of the fancy stuff I do, then they shouldn't."

"Do you know what I think? I think some day a space ship is going to come down and take me away from all this...stuff. My idea of heaven is a place just beyond space. I mean, the heavens are going to open up...and then beyond that will be heaven, and when you go inside, then the space closes again, and you are there...definitely a wonderful place...everyone you ever knew will be there. Great."

"Nobody says anything about actors, TV newsman making a million a year, a rock star like Peter Frampton grossing $50 million a year. I don't see anybody harping on the Grateful Dead or Elton John.

"There's an actor who turned down two million for three weeks' work. He wanted three million for two weeks. Yet I'm always being harped upon, because I'm there on the sports page every day.

"Man, the basketball player WORKS. The travel is really hard. We're extremely specialized, the most specialized people in the world probably. More so than a heart or brain surgeon. We SHOULD get paid.

"There's no difference in me playing ball and Lavar Burton playing Kunta Kinte in 'Roots.' It's all entertainment. You're trying to draw an audience. It's all one big conglomerate."

"I've experienced just about everything you can experience. I've been wealthy. I've had material things everybody always wants. I've had popularity. I've broken over a hundred [scoring] records in high school, college, and the pros. I've been given keys to cities, been named the honorable mayor of a few others, given admiral status in the Navy. I've flown around the world in a Lear jet and given clinics, I've met with kings. But I was having a problem with my life. All those things would only give me pleasure for a moment or two. I wanted something more."

"Pistol Pete Maravich died. I am Peter Maravich and we are two different lives."

"No! Not on our team. Nobody minds if I take thirty-seven shots or fifty shots. I could probably shoot from out of bounds and it wouldn't matter to those guys. We just want one thing: to win." --Pete on asked if there was "jealousy" on their team

"It's hard when your father's the coach, too. Sometimes you don't know where one leaves off and the other begins." (Talking about his father being his coach at L.S.U.)

"I don't want to play 10 years [in the NBA] and then die of a heart attack when I'm 40."

"Namath, this is a guy that goes his own way. Maybe he is a little different. But didn't the Beatles look different to us when they first showed up? Just because he showed up with the hair and Fu Manchu mustache is no reason to knock him. We're all different, aren't we?"

"I've always shot this way. I know the ball doesn't spin right, [it would spin sideways because he would shoot off the side of his left hand] but the most important thing for me is to be a two-eyed shooter. You've got to have two eyes on the basket for depth perception. My release isn't as high as Oscar's [Roberton] or Jerry's [West], so I put my left hand to the side to get it out of the way."

"It's my style. I do it for the benefit of the team, for the fans and for myself. I don't throw a behind-the-back pass just to hot dog it. I throw it to meet the situation. I throw it to excite the crowd. I bet at least ninety percent of the people want to see my show. You can't tell me just ten percent want it. Like I say, if I have a choice whether to do the show or throw the straight pass, and we're going to get the basket either way, I'm going to do the show."

Press: It seems like yesterday when I sat where you're sitting and my father was lying here. He died in my arms, and I know I will die in yours. That comforts me.
Pete: Dad, I want you to know that I will never give up. I will stand and believe until your last breath that God will heal you. Someday I'll be with you. I love you.
( from Heir to a Dream )

"You might as well go back to the bench. I'm not coming out of this game. Don't even talk to me about it." --Pete, during a game against Auburn after his knee had buckled as he went down the court

"I'll tell you one thing, they didn't take any films of that game, but I don't mind. When I'm seventy years old and telling my grandchildren about the shot, I imagine the distance will match my age." --Pete, referring to a game where he had taken a 45-foot hook shot right before the buzzer went off. He didn't expect it to go in, and started walking off the court. It went in.

"This was one time when I couldn't fake. I had to get out of bounds...and fast. I moved instinctively to the left, down an embarkment off the raod and into a grassy ditch. Fortunately, the car didn't turn over. I just opened the door and sat there. My whole body trembled for about half an hour. I couldn't move. Let me tell you, double overtime was never like that." --Pete, speaking of an incident in which he was traveling down a highway and pulled out to pass several cars ahead of him. As he did this, a truck was coming straight at him in the other lane.

"How dumb can they be. Sure Dad taught me many of the things I know. But I put them together. On the court, I'm my own man. I have to depend on the other guys and myself, not on my father. I'm just lucky he was a basketball coach. If he taught something like flying, I'd probably be one hell of a pilot. But right now I'm a basketball player and that's what counts." --Pete, again responding to the accusation that he was only a star because Press was his coach

(Pete walks into Press's office, with a towel bunched under his shirt.)
PRESS: What's wrong?
PETE: Oh, I hurt it and it knida swelled up.
(Press looks concerned until Pete flashes his boyish grin.)
PRESS: WHen the hell are you going to get a haircut?
PETE: What for. I don't need one.
PRESS: You look like a fruit.
PETE: Aw, you're just jealous.
PRESS: You crazy Serb.
(Exit both laughing.)
--The Making of a Basketball Superstar: Pistol Pete Maravich, by Bill Gutman page 113

(After a game in the N.I.T. in which Pete scored 37 points)
PRESS: We lost our poise tonight. We choked.
PETE: To be honest, I stunk up the court again.
PRESS: Damn right.
PETE: He's pretty disgusted with me.
PRESS: Damn right.

"In my opinion, the professional basketball player is the greatest athlete in the world. Every rookie coming into the league has to learn through experience. I'm just a rookie, but I'm going to work hard. It's not an easy road to ride, but with hard work and determination, I should survive. And there are always new players coming up to keep you scared.

"As a rookie, I'd love to break into the starting lineups. But it isn't easy for a rookie to start, no matter who he is or what he did in college. I just hope that my overall ability, coupled with hard work, dedication, desire and determination, will help me crack the lineup."

"If I play pro ball, it'll have to be in the south. I was raised there, I love the people, the fans, the enviornment and the prospects of a future life there."

"I traveled nearly 14,000 miles one summer. I worked mostly with kids in the seven-to-twelve age group. Kids older than that, say thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, are already interested in other things, like smoking cigarettes. They think they know it all. Athletics are out. They're more interested in being hippies and yippies, going off across the country, eating and sleeping wherever they can. A life like that doesn't do anything for me. I'd rather make a living for myself.

"I feel that by the time a guy gets to the seventh or eighth grade he should know what he wants to do in life. Then he should start working his butt off to become a success at it. You'll never find me at one of these rocks festivals with a thousand other people, sitting around with no shirt, drinking beer, and strumming on a guitar. You can't do that the rest of your life and you're fooling yourself if you think you can. There just isn't that much time on this earth. My way of expressing myself is through basketball. I've been at it a long time and I'm going to keep at it."

Reporter: Is it true that you're not too fond of girls?
Pete: Oh, no. I like the fairer sex as much as the next guy.
Reporter: Have you ever thought about marriage?
Pete: Yes, I have. But my wife won't be living off the fat of the land. I guess my wants are like those of any other normal guy.
Reporter: Would she have to be a college graduate?
Pete: No, I don't think that it's so necessary for women to go to college. As a matter of fact, I saw the Secretary of Commerce on television the other day and he said he didn't graduate.
Reporter: Do you like kids?
Pete: Yes, I do, especially when they're between six and twelve. That's when they listen, learn, and do what you tell them. When they get older, they're too interested in girls, cars, and that kind of stuff to learn well. But I really get involved with the younger ones when I'm teaching them basketball. Sometimes I have an urge to take them home. They're that good.
Reporter: What about the women's lib people playing basketball?
Pete: Great! We'd love it. The refs would sure keep busy. There'd be plenty of body contact.

"I think John Havlicek is a perfect example of this type of thing. When he became a pro, he found talents he never knew existed. He didn't really have a chance playing second fiddle to Jerry Lucas at Ohio State. But with the Celtics he matured as a ballhandler, dribbler, and playmaker. As for myself, I can't help but get better."

"Yes, I was frustrated at the beginning. Sometimes I couldn't see straight. It was that bad. And Richie kept it like that when he kept me on the bench. I never sat in my life. I was coming into games frozen stiff. But he finally brought it out of me. He made me see what it's all about. He kept on me and kept on me. Sometimes until it seemed I'd go crazy."