Pete Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete
The late Pete Maravich is a basketball legend. He averaged more than 44 points a game in his career at Louisiana State University—before the advent of the three-point shot—and 24 during his NBA career. But more than his scoring was his passing. He was inarguably the most spectacular, creative passer in the history of the game. Pete was the son of a successful coach, Press Maravich, and neighbors recall young Pete hanging out of a car window, dribbling, while his dad drove slowly around the side streets, gradually picking up speed. Federman and Terrill recount Maravich’s playing career in entertaining fashion, though the sheer number of game accounts is numbing. As for the personal Pete, they come to many of the same conclusions as Mark Kriegel did in his masterful 2006 biography, Pistol—that success on the basketball court did not translate to happiness. It was only after his career was over that he found contentment in Evangelical Christianity and working with kids. This isn’t quite the polished piece of work that Kriegel’s book is, but it offers an evenhanded treatment of all aspects of Maravich’s life. --Wes Lukowsky