SerpApi.Org
Most young athletes who receive nationwide attention tend to embrace the fame that comes with it. In today's era, that often means growing their social media presence, embracing their brand, signing endorsement deals and enjoying celebrity status.
But this is hardly a modern-day phenomenon.
Even during the 1960s and '70s, athletes experienced similar temptations and few embodied that journey more than Pete Maravich.
Before becoming the infamous" Pistol Pete," he was simply a basketball-obsessed kid. Pete slept with a basketball, sneaked out of his bedroom window at night just to dribble through the woods and treated the ball like a security blanket.
He would blindfold himself while dribbling around the house to sharpen his feel, walk nearly two miles to the gym without ever picking up the ball and even dribble while riding the bike using just his one hand.
Basketball was his world.
But then came the fame and the life and extravaganza attached to it.
Pete Maravich had more to his life
Over his three varsity seasons at LSU, Maravich averaged an astonishing 43.8, 44.2 and 44.5 points per game, leading the nation in scoring every year despite playing without a three-point line in place.
Moreover, his career scoring average of 44.2 points per game remains the highest in NCAA Division I history by an enormous margin.
Additionally, his total overall tally of 3,667 points is the most by anyone in Division I men's basketball history and he also set the single-season record of scoring 1,381 points during his senior year.
As he dominated the collegiate basketball scene, everything around him changed.
The media followed his every move. Fans adored him. Women recognized him everywhere he went. And suddenly basketball wasn't the only thing he had in his life.
"I soon had another life," Maravich said. "A life in alcohol, ladies and parties. I saw a lot of women and I liked all of them I saw."
Only if Maravich had taken things seriously
Although "Pistol Pete" went on to enjoy an outstanding NBA career, earning four All-NBA Team selections and capturing the league's scoring title by averaging 31.1 points per game in 1976-77, the team success many envisioned never arrived.
Let alone contesting for MVP honors, he never reached the Conference Finals during his prime and did not advance that far until his farewell season with the Boston Celtics, where he shared the court with rookie Larry Bird.
Looking back, Maravich's admission perhaps perfectly explains how that fame gradually pulled his focus away from what once consumed him completely. Whether that alone prevented him from achieving greater team success is impossible to know.
Championships depend on far more than one player; still, Pete knew that he was in the wrong and perhaps distracted.
Those who don't, those who can keep their eyes on the prize and focus mostly on basketball, are those who have become one of the most successful in history.
And talent has nothing to do with that. It's all about dedication and a desire to think long-term rather than gunning for a quick fix, as Pistol Pete evidently did.
