Atlanta Hawks: 15 greatest scorers in franchise history

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Pete Maravich, Atlanta Hawks. (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

7. Pete Maravich, Point Guard, 1971-74

Pete Maravich aka “Pistol Pete” only spent four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, but he made quite the name for himself with his abilities to pass and score the ball in flashy ways. He was drafted third overall by the Hawks out of LSU in the 1970 NBA Draft.

As a rookie, Maravich averaged 23.2 points per contest, finishing as the eighth overall scorer in the league that season. In his second season, his scoring dropped slightly due to appearing in just 66 games, but he still managed to record 19.3 points per game.

During the 1972-73 season, he averaged 26.1 points per game, ranking fifth-best among players in the NBA. In 1973-74, he poured in 27.7 points per contest, coming in second behind league MVP Bob McAdoo (30.7 ppg).

Maravich finished his career in Atlanta with two games scoring 50 points or more, 11 games scoring 40 points or more and 93 games scoring 30 points or more. His 93 games of 30 points or more ties for fifth all-time alongside Cliff Hagan in franchise history and his two contests with 50 points rank third.

He put up a career-high 50 points on 20-of-27 shooting (74.1 percent) on Feb. 5, 1972 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was his second 50-point game of the year. In the month prior on Jan.16, he put up 50 points on 18-of-29 (62.1 percent) shooting from the floor against the Philadelphia 76ers. In both games, Atlanta got a victory.

Maravich did all this in a league without a 3-point line, so one can only imagine what his scoring totaly would have been with the line. He was traded by the Hawks to the New Orleans Jazz in the 1974 offseason to bring his run to an end. His No. 44 jersey was retired in 2017 by the team.