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Pete Maravich's Big Message In Old Interview: "The Heroes Today Should Be The Fathers. They Should Not Be Some Athlete."

March 29th, 2022

Pete Maravich was one of the greatest scorers the NBA had ever seen. He was a silky guard capable of manipulating entire defenses with his dribbling and scoring ability. Many believe Maravoch's game would fit perfectly in the modern NBA, with Kyrie Irving often compared to the man known as Pistol Pete.

Maravich was an extremely principled man. He had a great relationship with his father and he had health with personal demons from alcoholism in his life. He also had a self-admitted temper problem and espoused ideals of equal distribution of wealth and the violent means he could take to get there if he didn't have the platform of being a basketball player.

In the same interview he revealed all of this, Maravich was talking about dealing with his father's death, Press Maravich, where he spoke about how he wants children to idolize their fathers and not athletes.

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"I really don't have any pain. I was there for his last breath, watched his last breath being taken, my wife and I. It shocked my wife ry, but my dad, I was with him for five straight months, 24 hours a day. I traveled 20,000 miles getting him treatment at some places, I carried him like he used to carry me to camps in the backseat of the car to summer camps. We were very very very close. I think that's good. I think a father and son should be that close. Heroes of the day should be the fathers, not athletes. You can admire an athlete, Rockstars, but it should be fathers who are the heroes of kids today."

The message to not idolize athletes has been echoed by many others like Charles Barkley and Derrick Rose. Maravich was unfortunately taken from the world at a young age and was the only player who had passed away from the NBA's 50th Anniversary team ceremony in 1997.

Curated By

Maya Gupta
Investigative Journalist | Grassroots Movement Organizer | Economy Consultant/Speaker
Maya Gupta writes from the fault lines of a world that refuses to stay quiet. Focused on the collisions between culture, power, and accountability, her work cuts past polished narratives to expose what’s really moving beneath the surface. From the rise of creator-driven influence to athlete activism and grassroots resistance, she tracks the momentum shaping a generation unwilling to wait its turn. Her reporting doesn’t cater to comfort, it confronts it, challenging institutions that lean on legacy instead of legitimacy. With a voice rooted in urgency and a lens tuned to those often ignored, Maya delivers coverage that reflects the stakes as they are, not as they’re packaged. This is journalism that doesn’t just observe change, it stands in the middle of it, documenting the push, the backlash, and the undeniable shift underway.

Suggested Reading

Forever Showtime: The Checkered Life of Pistol Pete Maravich

Forever Showtime: The Checkered Life of Pistol Pete Maravich by Phil Berger is a compelling biography that chronicles the extraordinary yet tumultuous life of Pete Maravich, one of basketball’s most iconic figures, celebrated for his dazzling skills and named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in ...

Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich

Almost four decades have passed since Maravich entered the national consciousness as basketball's boy wizard. No one had ever played the game like the kid with the floppy socks and shaggy hair. And all these years later, no one else ever has. The idea of Pistol Pete continues to resonate with young ...

Pete Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete

The youngest person to be voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, “Pistol” Pete Maravich is recognized by the NBA as one of the all-time top 50 basketball players. More than 30 years after he left Louisiana State University, his NCAA scoring record still stands. He enjoyed fame, wealth, and short of...

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