The NBA has always tried to make basketball interesting for fans. At times, the league has tried to introduce unique competitions to achieve that goal, and during the 1977-78 NBA season, a competition of H-O-R-S-E was introduced.
It featured a total of 32 players, including the likes of Pete Maravich and George Gervin. Speaking of the two legends, in a pre-recorded footage from the 1977-78 NBA season, they went head-to-head in an exciting game of H-O-R-S-E.
The clip shows the epic battle that went down between the two former NBA superstars. While it could have gone either way, Maravich ended up being victorious.
During the game, Garvin stuck to the fundamental shots of basketball, but Maravich had no such intentions. He tried several trick shots, which were too difficult to replicate for Gervin.
Pete registered a victory over Gervin with H-O-R-S. But when he faced off with New York Knicks legend Bob McAdoo, it was much easier for him to win.
This time around, Pete won the competition with H-O-R as McAdoo had no response for the Utah Jazz legend’s crazy trick shots.
Coming back to the H-O-R-S-E competition between Maravich and Gervin, the latter talked about it during an interview with Deseret News in 2018.
“He shouldn’t have beat me,” Gervin said. “It was good, man. To play against Pete and to be in the finals with it being as competitive as it was. Pete is a trick shot artist, and that’s what he ended up beating me with, with one of his old trick shots, and I give it all to Pete.”
Gervin added: “He was one of the guys I’ve always respected and respected his game and what he could do with that basketball. Very few people could do with that basketball what Pete can do. He’s one of the guys when you play H-O-R-S-E; I don’t mind losing to him.”
Even though the completion took place more than four decades ago, Gervin’s competitive side still made him believe that he should have been the victor over Pistol Pete.
Although Maravich got past the likes of Gervin and McAdoo, he couldn’t flaunt his trick shots in the final due to an injury. Pete was replaced by Rick Barry, who ultimately lost against Paul Westphal. Westphal became the winner of the inaugural edition of the game by edging out a total of 32 participants.
The NBA Tried To Re-Introduce The H-O-R-S-E Competition
NBA fans love to see these exciting competitions during the All-Star weekend. Keeping that in mind, the league has tried to re-introduce the H-O-R-S-E competition on two separate occasions.
The competition returned for two years, in 2009 and 2010. Kevin Durant won it in both years and became a two-time H-O-R-S-E champion. Following those two seasons, the league once again scrapped the competition from the All-Star weekend.
After that, the NBA provided a televised version of the event in 2020, when the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mike Conley Jr. edged out Zach LaVine to become the winner of the virtual H-O-R-S-E competition winner.
With fans losing interest in the NBA All-Star weekend, the league may once again bring back the interesting event. Nowadays, there are a plethora of talented superstars in the league who have the skills to produce a thrilling H-O-R-S-E game.
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