Pete Maravich was ahead of his time. According to sources, he was making 13 three-pointers a game before the 3-point line existed, he would have averaged 57 points per game with it.
The NBA can boast of many stars that have graced the game throughout the decades, many of who set records that other players can only dream of achieving. There have been so many legends throughout the decades that some of the best have even been forgotten a little. Pete Maravich is a player that sometimes doesn't quite get the credit for the abilities that he deserves. There are drills today based on the way he played.
Pete Maravich tragically passed away when he was just 40, but he is a prime example of a player that was ahead of his time. Pistol Pete was a scoring phenomenon in college, he averaged an insane 44 points per game across 3 seasons at LSU. He had huge scoring averages when he got to the NBA as well, but his college record puts him right on top in that category. And the insane thing about it is that the numbers could have been even better!
Bill Walton Explained How Pete Maravich Would Have Averaged 57 Points Per Game In College If There Had Been A 3-Point Line
Pistol Pete was in college during the late 60s, and his NBA career was mostly during the 1970s, which means he never played in the three-point era. The NBA introduced the three-pointer in 1979, by which time Maravich was playing his final season. In an interview talking about Pete Maravich's biography, legendary center Bill Walton recalled just how good Maravich was and shared some incredible facts about his statistical dominance.
(starts at 1:49 minutes)
“Amazing [thing] about Pete is … 44 points per game, in his career, for three straight years in an era with no 3-point line. Dale Brown, who coached LSU after Press and Pete were there, went back and charted all the games with the running score – Maravich free-throw, Maravich 22-foot jumper, Maravich lay-up – and he calculated that with the current college 3-point line rule at 19’9”, Pete Maravich would have averaged 13 3-point makes per game, which would have given him a career average of 57.0 points per game under today’s rules! That guy was unbelievable! We love him, we miss him terribly, what a great man, what a great human being.”
Those are incredible statistics, it seems Maravich's shooting at the time was just as good, if not better than even the greatest shooters since the 3-point line was introduced. His career was hampered by injuries that perhaps stopped him from fulfilling his full potential, but it's safe to say that Pistol Pete Maravich was one of the best players and shooters to ever touch a basketball.
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