This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/1/2002.
With a scholarship and greatness as his goals, Pete Maravich set out very early in life to make himself the best basketball player he could be. Pete played six to ten hours a day during the summer from the time he was seven years old, often turning down recreational opportunities to spend time in a gym doing drills. He wrote in "Beyond the Brass Ring," "I took my basketball into empty movie theatres and dribbled on the carpeted aisle during movies. I dribbled to and from town--five miles a day. When I got a bike, I learned to dribble while riding it and, later, I dribbled while hanging out the passenger side of a car." Pete even kept this basketball in bed with him until he was 14 years old. In light of this practice, it is no wonder that Pete Maravich became a player whom legendary UCLA coach John Wooden labeled "the greatest ballhandler ever."
Offered here is the very first basketball that "Pistol Pete" Maravich used during his life. The ball shows absolutely tremendous use and much of its outermost layer has worn away over time to reveal a navy layer of rubber. This is the exact ball that his father, Press Maravich, gave him after saying, "Pete, I'm making ninety-six dollars a week. There's no way I can put you through college. But if you'll let me teach you basketball, you'll get a scholarship. Maybe one day you'll play on the professional level as I did. Maybe you'll be on a team that wins the world championship, and they'll give you a big ring!" The ball comes with a letter of authenticity from Pete's wife Jackie Maravich. Put simply, this is where it all began.