{"id":1511902,"date":"2022-06-02T00:53:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T04:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1511902"},"modified":"2023-05-02T11:47:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:47:08","slug":"pistol-pete-maravich-said-larry-bird-very-best-player-nba-before-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/pistol-pete-maravich-said-larry-bird-very-best-player-nba-before-death\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pistol' Pete Maravich Said Larry Bird Was the ‘Very Best' Player in the NBA Before His Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

lt's sometimes easy to forget that Pete Maravich<\/a> played his final NBA games with the Boston Celtics<\/a>, teaming with a superstar rookie named Larry Bird<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair of legends only played 35 games together in that 1979-1980 season after the Utah Jazz waived Maravich, but “Pistol Pete” was clearly impressed. Bird, of course, quickly became one of the best players in the NBA and is considered by many to be one of the best players of all time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And before his tragic death in 1988 at the young age of 40, Maravich was one of those people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Pistol” Pete Maravich and Larry Bird were teammates on the Celtics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Larry
(L-R) Larry Bird; Pete Maravich | Focus on Sport\/Getty Images; Focus on Sport\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the time Maravich came to the Celtics in 1980, his play was nowhere near the level that had made him a five-time NBA All-Star, a four-time All-Pro selection, and a one-time scoring champion. And Boston didn't need him to be that player as Bird had come to town and made an immediate impact. He averaged 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.7 steals to win NBA Rookie of the Year, beating out Magic Johnson<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maravich contributed 11.5 points per game off the bench in 26 regular-season games with the Celtics and participated in the postseason for the first time since 1973, his penultimate season with the Atlanta Hawks. In the second round of the playoffs (the Celtics had a first-round bye), Boston swept the Houston Rockets, who were playing their final season in the Eastern Conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Celtics were soundly beaten in the Conference Finals by the Philadelphia 76ers, and that was the end of Maravich's career as he felt his knees couldn't take anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maravich later called Bird the ‘very best' player in the NBA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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