For those of you, say, under the age of 40, you may not realize just how spectacular Pete Maravich was at the game of basketball.

Maravich still holds a bunch of records, particularly in the college game. He averaged more than 40 points per game in each of three seasons (1967-1970) at LSU, and went on to a solid career in the NBA. Maravich has been overshadowed over the years by names such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Julius Erving, but take it from me -- he's at the top of my list as the single greatest ballhandler in NBA history. No one has ever matched what he could do with a basketball.

I was looking for a book that filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge of Maravich's life, and "Forever Showtime" does a nice job of filling in some of the blanks.

Maravich was the son of Press Maravich, a high school and college basketball coach, who obviously was driven to success through the relationship through his father. Pistol Pete would spend hours upon hours a day in the gym growing up, even dribbling on the carpet in movie theaters. He'd take his tricks and use them in games. Imagine, if you will, a closely-guarded player holding the ball behind his back and then throwing a pass through his own legs and the legs of his defender to a teammate -- Maravich did it.

Maravich should have filled up basketball arenas for years to come after college, but it didn't work out that way. He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, who weren't willing to dump their team concept for a rookie. Then Maravich was traded to New Orleans, who bankrupted its future in order to acquire him. Throw in two facts I learned through the book -- Maravich had a drinking problem caused by the pressures of being Pistol Pete, and he had to cope with the suicide of his mother -- and you can see why his career was a small disappointment. That's in spite of the fact that he was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

Maravich died of a preexisting heart condition some years ago, which makes his accomplishments that much more remarkable. Without Maravich as a first-hand reference, Berger has to rely on other sources for impressions. I'm not sure I got a complete picture of Maravich's personality through the book, but that's not an easy assignment for many biographers.

Overall, this is a professional job of bringing to light the personality of an all-time great. After finishing it, I really wanted to go out and rent a video showing Maravich at his best. That's a tribute to the author and to Maravich.

Thanks for reading this review.




Recommended: Yes