Atlanta Hawks retire Pete Maravich’s No. 44 jersey (Video)

The Atlanta Hawks have finally retired “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s No. 44 jersey. They did so during halftime of their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While there has not been a lot of championship caliber basketball in Atlanta, the Atlanta Hawks have had some great players play for them over the years. Under a new ownership group led by Tony Ressler, Atlanta has wisely decided to recognized key members of its past by retiring long overdue numbers.

The Hawks retired center Dikembe Mutombo’s No. 55 jersey last season. On Friday night, Atlanta did the right thing by finally retiring the late “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s No. 44 jersey. Here is his jersey proudly hanging from the Philips Arena rafters.

Maravich joins Mutombo, Bob Pettit, Lou Hudson, and Dominique Wilkins as the fifth player to have his jersey retired by the Hawks organization. While his NBA career only lasted 10 seasons, Maravich was a brilliant ball-handler and a shooting star for the Hawks, the New Orleans/Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics.

Maravich was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft by the Hawks out of LSU. He played his first four NBA seasons in Atlanta, make two All-Star games. Maravich remains one of the most celebrated players of his era and in NBA history.

He was the first of his kind, paving the way for point guards like Steve Nash and Stephen Curry to take over the league decades later. Few have been able to challenge Maravich’s flashiness as a passer. He was a marksman from long distance well before the three-point shot came to the NBA.

Next: Which NBA Team Has The Best Uniform of All-Time?

Atlanta is the third NBA team to have honored Maravich. The other two are the Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans. Maravich never played for the Pelicans, but starred in New Orleans for the Jazz and was the greatest player in SEC history while at LSU.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow