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1977 Pete Maravich 68-Point Game Used Basketball....
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Sold on Aug 19, 2023 for:
$78,000.00
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Description
"Sixty-eight for Maravich!"
1977 Pete Maravich 68-Point Game Used Basketball."He [Pete] was an artist. His canvas was the basketball floor and his brush was the basketball"-Paul Westphal
The most famous game of Pistol Pete's professional career came during his finest professional season, on February 25, 1977 as his New Orleans Jazz faced off against the New York Knicks at the Superdome under the bright television lights of New York City's WOR. With his floppy socks a-flapping, Maravich dazzled with an endless array of jumpers, lay-ups, hooks and bank shots, completely bedeviling the Knicks, including the great Walt Frazier, widely considered one of the best defenders in the game.
Watch the game on YouTube and you will be entertained just as much by Andy Musser and Cal Ramsey, who are doing the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively, as you will by Maravich.
"Pete Pete really paid Butch like a fiddle that time," says Musser.
Oh, he's an offensive machine." says Ramsey.
"What move doesn't this guy have, Cal?," asks Musser, to which Ramsey replies "I don't know how you stop a guy like that."
At one point in the broadcast Musser shouts "Oh, come on, come on! That's ridiculous!" in disbelief after Maravich picks up his dribble at the top of the key (past where today's three-point like would be), palms the ball, while doing a 360-degree pivot, and then hits a long jumper.
Having played before the advent of the three-point line, Maravich was surely robbed of several points he would have enjoyed with that added component. Plus two horrible offensive foul calls (at the hands of flopper extraordinaire Tom McMillian) near the end of the game, which ended his Pete's night, were both highly questionable calls and the massacre really should have continued.
Pete's sixty-eight points that night set the record for guards (which stood for almost twenty-nine years) and Maravich ended the season as the league's leading point producer with a 31.1 scoring average. In the finest season of his career, Pete had become the consummate professional and team player. Meanwhile, his fundamentals and flair put him in a league of his own. As Red Auerbach once said, "Some guys break the laws of gravity. This guy breaks the laws of physics."
Presented here is the game ball from that masterful display in the Crescent City, originally acquired from Pete's widow Jackie. The "Wilson Official NBA" ball remains perfectly spherical and perfect for display, with the vintage decoration of a single panel announcing "Pete Maravich, 68 Points, Feb. 25, 1977." It's certainly one of the most significant Maravich artifacts to reach the hobby, worthy of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the finest of private collections.
The lot is also accompanied by a 2017 All-Star Game Program which features a five-page article about the game and pictures the basketball. Letter of provenance from widow Jackie Maravich. LOA from Heritage Auctions.
Auction Info
2023 August 19 - 20 Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction #50063 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
August, 2023
19th-20th
Saturday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 6
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 3,920
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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