The Doctor and the Pistol
Julius "Dr. J" Erving and "Pistol" Pete Maravich were teammates with the Atlanta Hawks for three preseason games in 1972 and my interview with Erving about those games was cited in the book Maravich by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill. Erving and Maravich also played for the Eastern Conference in the 1977 and 1979 NBA All-Star Games. This recently posted video includes some great highlights of Erving and Maravich in those two NBA All-Star games. Their connection is telepathic and their chemistry is explosive; if they had played on the same team with any halfway decent big man their team would have been a perennial championship contender.Around the 3:16 mark of the video, several quotes about Erving and Maravich are displayed, including one from my article. Erving is my favorite basketball player of all-time: I have written a short story about him, plus several poems (Doc on the Break: Early 1970s, The Dunk, One on One and Geometry, Art--and Doc) and of course many, many articles analyzing his impact on the sport. Maravich was one of my favorite players as a kid and I wrote a heartfelt poem after his premature passing. The above video captures at least a small part of why these two players became legends and I am proud that the person who posted this video decided to include my words in this tribute to Doc and the Pistol.
Labels: Basketball Digest, David Friedman, Julius Erving, Pete Maravich
posted by David Friedman @ 12:25 AM
