{"id":1553265,"date":"2023-03-11T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1553265"},"modified":"2023-05-02T11:39:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:39:05","slug":"who-were-the-2-players-selected-ahead-of-pete-maravich-in-the-loaded-1970-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/who-were-the-2-players-selected-ahead-of-pete-maravich-in-the-loaded-1970-nba-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Were the 2 Players Selected Ahead of Pete Maravich in the Loaded 1970 NBA Draft?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pete Maravich<\/a> averaged \u2014 yes, averaged \u2014 44.2 points per game in his three seasons at LSU. He left college as the NCAA's all-time Division I scoring leader with 3,667 career points. It's an amazing number considering it took him just 83 games without a three-point line to reach that total. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man known as “Pistol Pete” is easily a top-five college basketball player<\/a> ever. His college scoring record still stands 53 years later.<\/a> Despite the incomprehensible numbers he put up at LSU, he wasn't the first player chosen in the loaded 1970 NBA<\/a> Draft. In fact, two players were taken before the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> secured him with the third overall pick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete Maravich was taken after Bob Lanier and Rudy Tomjanovich in the 1970 NBA Draft<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Who
Atlanta Hawks guard Pete Maravich dribbles downcourt against the Washington Bullets at Capital Centre circa the 1970s in Washington, D.C. | Focus on Sport via Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With numbers like Maravich's, it makes you wonder why he didn't go first in the 1970 NBA Draft. Sometimes size is just as important as those massive statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Detroit Pistons held the first pick in 1970, a year in which three expansion teams \u2014 Buffalo Braves, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Portland Trail Blazers \u2014 made their debut. The Pistons selected St. Bonaventure's 6-foot-11 center Bob Lanier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanier went on to have a 14-year career that landed him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A bruising center with strong offensive skills, Lanier averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds in his career. He spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Pistons and was a seven-time NBA All-Star in Detroit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pistons traded Lanier to the Milwaukee Bucks in the middle of the 1979-80 season. He made his eighth and final All-Star Game appearance in his second full season with the Bucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the second overall pick in 1970, the San Diego Rockets selected Michigan's 6-foot-8 forward Rudy Tomjanovich. Rudy T had himself a heck of a career with the San Diego\/Houston Rockets, playing 11 years and making the All-Star Game five times. Tomjanovich averaged 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomjanovich is known for taking a vicious punch from Kermit Washington<\/a> during a game on Dec. 9, 1977. The blow shattered his face and sidelined him for five months. He returned the following season and was selected as an NBA All-Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Maravich was outstanding, it's hard to argue the selections of the two players taken before him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven Hall of Famers (and one HOF coach) were drafted in 1970<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The 1970 NBA draft produced the most Hall of Famers in history with 8! \ud83d\ude4c

Will another draft ever produce more? pic.twitter.com\/MqFMvk7tr3<\/a><\/p>— The Association on FOX (@TheAssociation) November 9, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>