On this day in Boston Celtics history, basketball legend Peter “Pete” Press Maravich died unexpectedly while playing a game of pickup basketball due to an undetected heart condition in 1988.
Born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania in 1947 to mother Helen Gravor Maravich and father Peter “Press” Maravich — a basketball star in his own right, Piston Pete (as he was called as a nickname) picked up his father’s talents and then some as a player, whom he played for at Louisiana State University. His elite offensive talents and amazing handle quickly got the attention of professional teams as a two-time National College Player of the Year and was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 1970.
He would play for that team, and the New Orleans and later Utah Jazz before joining the Celtics as a free agent in 1980.
He only played one season with the Celtics but had played his way into both the College and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with a long list of accomplishments at all levels.
In the twilight of his career when he joined Boston’s roster, Maravich averaged 11.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game with the team in the 26 games he played for the Celtics — Rest In Peace, Pistol Pete.
Happy birthday in heaven George Munroe. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/vC6WlUwZ4C
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 5, 2021
On this day in 1922, former Boston Celtic guard George Barber Munroe was born in Juliet, Illinois. Munroe played his college basketball with the Dartmouth College Big Green, where he was a consensus Second Team All-American, twice making the NCAA tournament.
The Illinois native would then join the US Navy, serving in the Second World War.
After he signed with the (now defunct) St. Louis Bombers for their inaugural season in the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) before there was even a draft to be selected in, for whom he would play a single season.
Happy birthday to Oxford University's first ever NBA player, George Munroe, who passed away in 2014 and would have been 99 today. He played two NBA seasons for the St. Louis Bombers (1946-47) and the Boston Celtics (1947-48).#BritishBasketball #RhodesScholar #OxfordBasketball pic.twitter.com/XOAkQ9wcLT
— Oxford Blues Basketball NBL (@OxfordMBB) January 5, 2021
Munroe would be dealt to the Celtics just before the start of the league’s second season in exchange for forward John Abramovic Jr. and cash considerations.
The Dartmouth product would play just 21 games for Boston before retiring, over which he averaged 3.4 points per game.
After his playing career, Munroe would earn a Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard as a Rhodes scholar, and later the CEO of Phelps Dodge Company.
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