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That time Pete Maravich won $5 for spinning a basketball on his finger for an hour

By Jonathan Bass

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Listen to Pete Maravich tell an excellent story about winning a bet as a child.

One of the great regrets in my life is that I was born about 10 years too late to ever watch Pete Maravich play live. The man was an innovator who was ahead of his time, and he played a fun, fluid version of the game.

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So when this video of Maravich telling a little tale slid across the ol’ news desk on this fine Friday morning, it was a no-brainer to post. In it, Pistol Pete recounts a story from his youth. As a child Maravich bet another kid $5 that he could spin a basketball on his finger for an hour without stopping. As each finger would blister and bleed, Maravich would simply switch to the next digit.

It’s a fun little yarn that Pistol Pete tells while, of course, spinning a ball on his fingers.

Classic, right? I could probably watch Maravich read War and Peace from cover to cover so long as he kept spinning that mesmerizing ball.

One of the fun running debates between roundball junkies is how many points Michael Jordan would put up in today’s NBA. With strict hand-checking rules and tighter whistles, some people claim MJ would easily average 50. Imagine the kind of points Maravich would’ve posted had there been a three-point line while he was in college. Dude averaged 44 points without one.

Legend status.

"Eff This"

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