#70 The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend

'The Pistol' is an illuminating, well-produced sports drama that tells how the legend behind basketball great Pete Maravich began. The story takes place in Clemson, S.C. during the basketball season of 1959.
Pete, a 5' 2" 8th-grader at Daniel High School, is shooting hoops in his backyard court in the rain. Pete's father, Preston Maravich, is seen to be the single greatest influence in the 13-year-old's life. To Preston, the greatest things a father can pass down to his son are his dreams. "With patience and persistence," he tells Pete, "dreams are possible."
Preston's motivational talks build confidence in Pete. He also gives him drills and teaches Pete to shoot a basketball from the hips.
At school, Pete thinks of himself as a social misfit. Nor is he received with open arms when the high school team's basketball coach permits Pete to play with the varsity. Too good for his own good, Pete is benched for the next ten games, but his confidence tells him he's better than any of the starting seniors.
Preston tells Pete he is on the right track, and if he'll dedicate himself to becoming better by using his God-given abilities, he will accomplish things he never thought possible. So Pete keeps at it, taking a basketball everywhere he goes, dribbling it down railroad tracks, while bicycling, or even when blindfolded. For Pete, it's tough being a kid chasing a grown-up dream, and his mom, sensing her son's hurt, wants him to quit the team, but Preston says the pain will build character...