Peter Press Maravich was born on June 22, 1947, in Aliquippa, PA. He was well recognized for his basketball talent. Along the years he got the nickname “The Pistol” for his unique shooting style. He held his hand by his hip, which looked like he was ready to draw a pistol. Though he is later known for his fancy passes and his ability to score.
Pete Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, which is near Pittsburgh. When he was young, his parents, Petar “Press” and Helen, moved him and his siblings, Ronnie and Diana, to Raleigh, North Carolina, when his father got a new job. Pete was in eighth grade when he made the varsity high school basketball team. He was five feet and two inches, weighing 90 pounds. The other kids were 5 years
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In January 8, 1988, after his retirement, Pete playing in a pickup game in Ohio, when he collapsed of a heart attack. He was 40 years old.
Like his father before him, Pete played in the NBA, Pete Maravich was an all around superstar on the basketball court. He was the third overall pick in the 1970s draft by the Hawks. He earned NBA All Rookie Team honors his first year. However, the Hawks did not seem to be a good fit for Pete. He was a “flamboyant” player compared to some of the other players at that time. Though Pete was successful on the court, his team was not. The Hawks had a losing season all 3 seasons that Pete was with
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The organization was looking for someone exciting to watch. Pete was already well known because of his lasting reputation from LSU. He seemed to be the man they were looking for. His first season with the Jazz, they finished last in the rankings. Pete still averaged over 20 points a game, but his shooting average was the worst it had ever been. The next two seasons the Jazz record improved, but Pete began to be troubled with injuries. Still he averaged more than 20 points a game and was a crowd favorite despite only playing in 62 games his second season with the team. During his third season with the Jazz, he also earned his 3rd all-star game appearance. However, knee injuries were beginning to slow Pete down and limiting his game appearances. Even his passing and scoring abilities were beginning to be affected.
On a final attempt to continue to play the game he loved, Pete signed a deal with the Boston Celtics in 1980. Led by Larry Bird, the Celtics were the team to beat. With his knee problems, Pete had to come to terms with only being able to play part-time. It was while with the Celtics, Pete finally made it to the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Celtics were unable to get past the Philadelphia 76ers. It was Pete’s final season in the
In the article, it states that in the spring of 1969 the Bucks with only two years of existence choose Alcindor as their first overall NBA pick. The biography states “In the spring of 1969 the Milwaukee Bucks, in only their second year of existence, selected Alcindor with the first overall pick in the NBA draft” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). With this statement being said Ferdinand was an amazing basketball player to be chosen as the first overall pick in the NBA draft not a lot of athletes can say that in the professional league. After only being with the Bucks for only a year Alcindor was making great progress! He finished second in the league with most points, third in rebounds, and also being named the league rookie of the year he quickly adjusted to the game you can say. The article states “He finished second in the league in scoring and third in rebounding, and was named Rookie of the Year” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). This being said Alcindor made a big impact his first year in the NBA. After making a few adjustments to the Bucks rooster the following years and adding a well needed player Oscar Robertson in 1971 the Bucks finished their regular season 66 wins and 16 loses and the success did not stop there. They finished the season strong by sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA finals which means they won the series 4-0 and Alcindor played a big role in this. The biography states “The following season the Bucks, having added future Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson to their roster, made another huge leap. The team finished the regular season 66-16 and then steamrolled through the playoffs, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA finals” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). In conclusion to the statement with Alcindor and Oscar in the team it made a big difference which lead the Bucks to win
Tom Parker was born on June 26, 1909 in Breda, The Netherlands to Adam and Maria VanKuijk who named their fifth child Andreas Cornelius VanKuijk. As a young man Parker immigrated to the United States where he worked on carnivals and served four years in the United States Army.
Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada (Biography.com). He began skating at age two and started playing the game around age six, at this age he was playing hockey with older boys (Biography.com). Gretzky’s dad taught him how to skate in their backyard on a rink Wayne had built (Gretzky). He spent countless hours practicing how to skate, leading up to his shooting and stickhandling style which helped him in his professional career (Gretzky). Gretzky’s first year playing in a league he only scored one goal the whole season, however as time went on he got better (Gretzky). He finished his minor league career by scoring 378 goals in his final season (Gretzky). As a tennager Gretzky finished his one and only season with the OHA second in scoring, after he was first in the 1978 World Junior Championships (Gretzky). As a child Gretzky always wore the number ‘9’, which was inspired by Gordie Howe, after a teammate took the number he started wearing his classic number ‘99’
Joe Montana was born on June 11, 1956 in New Eagle, Pennsylvania in a small town called Monongahela (Wiener 15). When Joe was growing up, he began playing organized sports at the age of 6. He played basketball, baseball, and football. He was always better at baseball and basketball. He was more athletic than everyone else and usually won in any game he played (Wiener 16). Once Joe was in highschool he stared in every sport but football, he could dunk a basketball and hit the baseball very far, but he never really stood out in football (Wiener 17). Well, until his sophomore year of high school Joe finally got to play some, he went in only in situations where they were getting beat bad. A few games that year they would put joe in when they were down a lot and he drives
Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg Manitoba on July 28 1958 Terry was raised in port Coquintlam, British Columbia. He was very athletic from a young age. When he was in grade eight Terry was rated nineteen out of nineteen on his basketball team. For that first season he was on the court for approximately one minute. This did not affect Terry and did not let it get to him, fore just two years later Terry was the starring player on his team. By the time he graduated he became one of two athletes to receive the schools highest athletic award.
Pete was born on June 22, 1947 in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. His parents, Press and Helen Maravich were a big impact in his early life when it came to basketball. Press Maravich was the head basketball coach for Louisiana State University. Press was a former professional basketball player, and was also a naval aviator. He began showing Pete the fundamentals of the game of basketball when Pete was just seven years old. He constantly drilled and drove Pete to be better at basketball, and everything else he did throughout his childhood. This helped Pete make the game more fun and interesting as he got better. “Named everything from around the world and the space clap to the scrambled egg and the flap jack, these drills improved Pete's quickness and hand-eye coordination while strengthening his self-confidence” (Kinzie). Pete, wanting to improve his skills constantly, quickly became obsessive over being the best. Press took basketball to a whole new level. He went as far as making pete lean out the window of the car and dribble while he was driving at different speeds.
Montana was born on June 11, 1956 in New Eagle, PA. From an early age he showed interest and talent in football as well as baseball and basketball. In fact, Montana was so good at basketball that as a senior he was offered a basketball scholarship to North Carolina State University. It wasn’t until his junior year of high school that Montana achieved the position of starting QB for the Ringgold High School Rams. Montana did not relinquish the position for the next two years, and after his senior season he was named to the Parade All-American team. He decided to pursue football and accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Notre Dame.
Drummond, unlike many people at the time, possesses the ability to put himself in another man’s shoes and understand their perspective when everyone else
Jack William Nicklaus, born to Charlie and Helen Nicklaus on January 21, 1940 in Columbus, Ohio. He grew up in Ohio and attended Upper Arlington High School. In high school he played basketball and his high school gave him All-Ohio honor, he even received some scholarships, one of which was to Ohio State, the school his dad went to, but his true love was for golf. His golf career started at age ten when, for his first time playing golf shot a 51 on nine holes. From then on he won many tournaments in Ohio, including the Ohio Open. At age seventeen he competed in his first U.S. Open and at eighteen he played in his first PGA tour event. He attended Ohio State University, not because of basketball, but because of golf. While at Ohio State he won the U.S. amateur tournament twice, and the NCAA championship. Also during his Ohio State stay he played in many majors and having not won any, he finished in the top ten every time except for one where he finished thirteenth, and we have to remember this is while he was stil...
Although he seemed superb, he had a troubled life growing up at his family home. His parents were abusive and uncaring towards him, therefore he used basketball as an alternative. In My Losing Season, Pat was able to obliterate the thought of his abusive parents. His comfort was playing basketball with a team he will never fail to remember. The outcomes Pat acquired were admirable,
He was born on July 25, 1953 in Colombia, Mississippi. He had two other siblings, a brother and a sister. Their names are Eddie and Pamela. He was never a competitive player so he stood supportively in his brother, Eddie, shadow. So he instead he took an interest in music and learned to play the drums. In the beginning he did not play football but was in the band and ran track and field. He did not take an interest in football until
Wilt Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game. "They say nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." Without Wilt Chamberlain the world would have missed one of the greatest basketball players in the history of
Walter Payton was born in July 25, 1954. Son of Peter and Alyne Payton, Walter Payton was born in Colombia, Missouri. Walter’s father wasn’t really into football as much as people thought, Peter Payton was a semi-pro baseball player. Walter was had one older brother Eddie, who was born 3 years before Walter but in the near future wasn’t the one to be a football star.
Willie Mays was born on May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Alabama. His mother was Ann and his father was William. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mays were athletic. Mr. Mays played baseball on the all-black teams of the south, as did his father before him. Mrs. Mays had been a champion sprinter when she was in school (Academy of Achievement).
Michael Jeffery Jordan was born on February 17th, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York but, would go to college at the University of North Carolina(UNC) where he would become an All- American his sophomore and junior year, become the College Player of the Year and win an National Championship. After leaving UNC at the end of his junior year season, Jordan would spend a majority of his career in Chicago, Illinois when he was drafted by the NBA team the Chicago Bulls 21 years later. Throughout his career many people knew Michael Jordan would become what was known as The “G.O.A.T”. While in the NBA, Jordan was recognized for his countless achievements, athleticism and the way he impacted the sport of basketball. In 1985 when he was drafted, Jordan was easily nominated for Rookie of the Year over future NBA hall of famers such as Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and John Stockton. During his reign, Jordan was a six-time NBA champion in the years 1991 through 1993 and 1996 through 1998 and was one of few athlet...