[BobC]

And for those questioning Maravich belonging in the Basketball HOF, i think there's something like over 150 players enshrined in the basketball HOF now, and I believe he still ranks as having the 22nd highest scoring average per game all-time, of all combined NBA/ABA players, at 24.2 PPG. And aside from starting out his NBA career alongside Lou Hudson and future HOFer Walt Bellamy, and therefore sharing a lot of the scoring with them (Hudson and Bellamy were no slouches and had 20.16 PPG and 20.08 PPG career scoring averages, respectively), he didn't get the benefit of the 3-point shot. Unlike a lot of early players that did much of their work in the paint, Maravich was known for taking long, 3-point deep shots. Unfortunately, the NBA did not adopt the 3-point basket until Maravich's last year in the NBA, 1979-80. It is pretty safe to assume his PPG average would have been several points higher had the 3-point rule been in place, and his spot on the all-time PPG game would move up quite a few places. Also, for those commenting about his .441 career FG %, it may be more applicable to be comparing that to the FG % of today's 3-point shooters, than the FG % of guys working mostly in the paint back in Maravich's time.

And yes, he didn't get to play on any winning teams. After his initial stint with the Atlanta Hawks, he went to the brand new New Orleans Jazz expansion team, and spent half his NBA career there. Where being arguably the best player on the team for the first few years, he would have had a lot of attention placed on him, and stopping him from scoring. Wasn't until his last couple of years with the Jazz that he finally got some help from first, Truck Robinson, and then Spencer Haywood.

The fact that despite him playing with only a 2-point basket, he's still at 22 on the all-time PPG list, and everyone ahead of him is either already in the HOF, or still playing, I think is pretty good evidence that he does in fact belong in the HOF.