Sports
Caitlin Clark mirrors ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich in more ways than one
Jaeson Maravich was visiting his mom Jackie in Covington, Louisiana, near New Orleans during the Final Four last year.
“Jaeson,” she called to him from the living room. “You need to see this girl play.”
Jackie apparently has an eye for basketball. She met Pistol Pete Maravich at LSU in the late 1960s and married him in 1976 when he was an NBA star – just 12 years before he died of an undetected heart defect while playing pick-up basketball at age 40.
What Jaeson, who was 9 when his dad died, saw on television last spring was shocking – some sort of a long lost relative in more ways than one.
Caitlin Clark Immediately Impressed Pete Maravich’s Son Jaeson
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes warms up before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena on February 11, 2024 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
“I was really impressed right off. She’s the real deal,” Maravich told OutKick last week. “And she looks like she could be a cousin or something. There is definitely a resemblance to my dad – the lanky build and real dark eyes. She shoots from 30 or 35 feet like he did, and she passes the ball like a magician. Not as flashy, but a real good ball handler, too. And no one could guard her.”
Jackie and Jaeson Maravich saw on ESPN that Friday night, March 31, was what much of the nation saw. An average of 5.5 million watched, which was the most viewers for a college basketball game on ESPN – men or women – since the Duke-North Carolina men’s game in 2008.
What the Maraviches saw was skinny, lanky, point guard Caitlin Clark of No. 2 Iowa score 41 points with eight assists and six rebounds to upset No. 1 and 36-0 South Carolina, 77-73, in a national semifinal at the Final Four in Dallas. Clark became the first player in women’s NCAA Tournament history to score 40 points or more in back-to-back games and just the second player to score 40 or more in a Final Four game.
Maravich averaged an NCAA record 44.2 points a game in his three-year college career from 1967-70 when freshmen were not eligible. And there was no 3-point shot.
“I don’t keep up with women’s basketball, so I was like, ‘Who is this?’ I mean, she was hitting from 30 feet,” Jaeson Maravich said. “She can stop on a dime from 25 or 30 feet. She’s very unpredictable. She has great composure and confidence and really is an all-around player like dad.”
Maravich’s career shooting percentage was .438. Clark’s is .465.
And Clark, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, who is not related to the Maravich family, is just 51 points away from breaking Maravich’s NCAA career scoring record of 3,667 points. The senior point guard scored 24 with 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a 101-85 win over Illinois Sunday. She is at 3,617 points now in her four-year college career.
No. 4 Iowa (24-4, 13-3 Big Ten) plays at Minnesota (15-12, 5-11 Big Ten) on Wednesday (9 p.m., Peacock) before hosting No. 2 Ohio State (23-3, 14-1 Big Ten) on Sunday (1 p.m., FOX). She averages 32 points a game this season and hit a career-high 49 on Feb. 15 against Michigan when she broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record.
Maravich played in only 83 games in his college career. Clark has played in 128 with two regular season games to go, potentially three in the Big Ten Tournament and six in the NCAA Tournament. Clark could stay at Iowa for a fifth season in 2024-25 because of the extra-year rule from COVID in 2020 when she was a freshman.
JAY WILLIAMS TELLS CRITICS TO ‘PLEASE STOP WITH ALL THIS RACE BAITING S—‘ OVER CAITLIN CLARK HOT TAKE
Caitlin Clark Leads Nation In Scoring, Assists, 3-Pointers
Maravich also holds the NCAA record for most career games of 50 points or more with 28. Clark leads the nation in scoring (32.4 points a game), in assists (8.5 a game) and in 3-pointers (5.3 a game).
Since Maravich shot so often from beyond the 3-point line without knowing it, it has been estimated that he would have scored more than 4,500 points in his career. Throw in the 771 he scored as a freshman in 1966-67, and he would have 5,271 points. And that’s excluding however many 3-pointers he would have had his freshman year.
“It’s two different records,” Maravich said. “But I’m happy for her. She’s a great player and deserves whatever she gets. She is a good person, and it’s a great thing for the younger generation. It’s cool how they have similar games.”
People often do not realize that Maravich was a big guard at 6-foot-5 who averaged 6.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists a game at LSU. Clark, a taller guard in the women’s game as well at 6-0, has averaged 7.1 rebounds and 8.1 assists a game in her career.
Pete Maravich and Caitlin Clark. (Getty Images)
And they have similar angular, thin faces.
“It’s funny how they look alike,” Maravich said.
While Maravich was known for his floppy hair and socks, Clark has been called “Ponytail Pete.”
“I saw somebody called me ‘Ponytail Pete.’ I thought that was kind of funny,” Clark said at the Final Four last year. “I think just a tremendous compliment. I am familiar with his game. I’ve seen a lot of his highlights. I take a lot of pride in being able to do a lot of different things for my team. I think the passing can get overlooked at times.”
Ironically, it was LSU that ended Clark’s and Iowa’s season last year in the national championship game – 102-85.
Pete Maravich Made The ‘Final Four’ In 1970
Maravich and LSU also made the Final Four in 1970. The prestigious National Invitation Tournament Final Four at the time, that is, at Madison Square Garden in New York with Army, St. John’s and eventual champion Marquette, which beat LSU in the semi and St. John’s for the title.
Much like Maravich did throughout the Southeastern Conference, Clark is selling out road arenas as often as the Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.
Both are iconic Americana. During particularly spectacular games, road fans would cheer for Maravich. The same thing has happened for Clark this season throughout the Big Ten.
Maravich never won a national championship or an NBA title. But he has been lauded for decades as one of the greatest players in history – if not the greatest. Clark may not win a national title, either, but her legacy already seems secure by many.
“He’d make up shots in the air,” Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson said of Maravich. “The no-look passes, dribble the ball, then pat it with one hand and pass. That’s where I got that from. He was the greatest. He changed the game. He was before his time. He did what I did long before I did.”
Caitlin Clark Is A ‘Cultural Phenomenon’ As Was Pete Maravich
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes looks on against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at Welsh-Ryan Arena on January 31, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Former Duke star and ESPN analyst Jay Bilas put Clark on Maravich’s level.
“She’s a cultural phenomenon unlike anything we’ve ever seen in basketball in my view,” he said on a recent ESPN college basketball GameDay. “And it goes beyond the scoring record. She’s not elevated the women’s game. She’s elevated the game. In that regard, we will not see her like again, in my judgment.”
Maravich is believed to have pushed young boys to basketball courts around the country in the 1960s, ‘70s and ’80s like no other player.
“Can you imagine the young girls who are looking at Clark right now and dreaming in a way that they’ve never dreamed before about the game?,” Bilas said.
A popular Clark comparison is to Golden State’s Steph Curry.
“I don’t compare her to Steph Curry,” ESPN GameDay’s Seth Greenberg said. “I compare her to Pistol Pete Maravich. Her passing, her basketball IQ. Like Maravich, she makes it easier for everyone else on the floor. Like Pete, she sees plays before they happen.”
Clark has already seen herself breaking Maravich’s record.
Caitlin Clark Dreams Big
“Before every game, I try to take time and just visualize what I want to happen in the game,” she said recently on ESPN. “I’m somebody who has really big dreams and aspirations.”
So too did Maravich.
“Love never fails. Character never quits,” he said. “And with patience and persistence, dreams do come true.”
But they are two different records.
“She’s a fantastic player – maybe the best women’s player ever,” said Bob Remy, who was the official scorekeeper for every New Orleans Jazz home game Maravich played in from 1974-79. “She’s a better passer than shooter, which is how Pete was. He was a better scorer than he was a shooter, too. He was a showman. She puts on a show. And I hope she gets it. The only way I could be upset is if they consider that breaking Pete’s record. Different times. Different game. No 3-pointer when he played.”
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Ali Haji-Sheikh and Shar Pourdanesh share the fact they are retired NFL players living beyond the glow of the NFL spotlight. But they also share another distinction tying them to current events: They are part of the Iranian diaspora hoping for the downfall of the Islamic revolution.
They make up part of a small group of men who played in the NFL – along with David Bakhtiari, his brother Eric Bakhtiari and T.J. Housmandzadeh – who are decedents of Iranians.
Washington Redskins kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh (6) talks to reporters at Jack Murphy Stadium during media day prior to Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos. San Diego, California, on Jan. 26, 1988.(Darr Beiser/USA TODAY Sports)
Haji-Sheikh: Self-Determination For Iranians
Haji-Sheikh, 65, played in the 1980s for the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. He was a first-team All-Pro, made the Pro Bowl and was on the NFL All-Rookie team in 1983 for the Giants and, in his final season, won a Super Bowl XXII ring playing for the Washington Redskins and kicking six extra points in a 42-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos.
Now, Haji-Sheikh is the general manager at a Michigan Porsche-Audi dealership and is like the rest of us: Keeping up with world events when time permits.
Except the war the United States is currently waging against the Islamic Republic of Iran is kind of different because Haji-Sheikh’s dad emigrated from Iran to the United States in the 1950s and built a life here.
And his son would like to see freedom come to a country he’s never visited but has a kinship to.
“It’s a world event,” Haji-Sheikh said on Monday. “I am not a big fan of the Islamic revolution because I am not Islamic. I would like to see the people of Iran be able to determine their own future rather than it be determined by a few people. It would be nice to see them having a stable government where the people can actually decide how they want it to go.
Green Bay Packers kicker Al Del Greco (10) talks with New York Giants kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh (6) on Sept. 15, 1985, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Giants 23-20.
Iranians Celebrating And Americans Protesting
Haji-Sheikh hasn’t taken to the streets of his native Michigan to celebrate a liberation that hasn’t fully manifested mere days after the American and Israeli bombing and elimination of the Ayatollah.
“I’m so far removed from that,” Haji-Sheikh said. “My mom is from Michigan and of Eastern European background. My dad is from Iran. But it’s like, he hasn’t been back since I was in eighth grade, so that’s a long time ago. That was when the Shah was still in power, mid-70s, ‘74 or ’75, because if he ever went back after that he never would have left. They would have held him, so there was no intention of going back.
“But if things change he might want to go, you never know.”
Despite being removed from any activism about what is happening in Iran Haji-Sheikh is an astute observer.
“My favorite thing I’m seeing right now on TV is the Iranians in America celebrating because there’s a chance, a glimpse, maybe a hope for freedom,” Haji-Sheikh said. “And you have these people in New York protesting. What are you protesting?”
Pourdanesh Thanks America, Israel
Pourdanesh retired from the NFL in 2000 after a seven-year career with the Redskins and Steelers. The six-foot-six and 312-pound offensive tackle was born in Tehran. He proudly tells people he was the NFL’s first Iranian-born player.
Pourdanesh is much more visible and open about his feelings about his country than others. And, bottom line, he loves that President Donald Trump is bombing the Islamic regime.
“This is a great day for all Iranians across the world,” Pourdanesh posted on his Instagram account on Saturday when the war began. “Thank you, President Trump, thank you to the nation of Israel. Thank you for everybody that has been standing up for my people, my brothers and sisters in Iran across the world. This is a great day.
“The infamous dictator is dead – the one person who has contributed to deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranians and other people around the world, if not more. So, congratulations to my Iranian brothers and sisters. Now, go and take back the country.”
This message was not a one-off. Pourdanesh has been posting about what has been happening in Iran since January, when people in Iran took to the streets demanding liberty and the government’s thugs began killing them, with some estimates rising to 36,500 deaths.
Offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh (68) of the Pittsburgh Steelers blocks against defensive lineman Jevon Kearse (90) of the Tennessee Titans during a game at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 24, 2000, in Pittsburgh. The Titans defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
‘Islam Does Not Represent The Iranian People’
“[The] Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people,” Pourdanesh said in another post. “Islam does not represent the Iranian people. For almost 50 years, the Iranian people and our country of Iran has been taken hostage by a terrorist regime, and it’s time to take that regime down.”
Pourdanesh was not available for comment on Monday. I did speak to a handful of other Iranian-Americans on Monday. They didn’t play in the NFL, but their opinions are no less valuable than those of former NFL players.
And these people, some of them participating in rallies on behalf of a free Iran, do not understand the thinking of some Americans and mainstream media.
One complained that media that reports on reparations for black Americans based on slavery in the 1800s dismisses the Islamic takeover of the American Embassy in 1979 as an old grievance.
Another said his brother lives in England, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately called the American and Israeli attacks on the Ayatollah’s regime “illegal” but, as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service took years to do the same of Muslim rape (grooming) gangs in the country.
(Starmer announced a national “statutory inquiry” in June 2025).
Offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh of the Washington Redskins looks on from the sideline during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 7, 1997, in Pittsburgh. The Steelers defeated the Redskins 14-13. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
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Pourdanesh Calls Out NFL Silence
And finally, Pourdanesh put the NFL on blast. He said in yet another post that during his career, the NFL asked him to honor black history, asked him to stand for women’s rights, asked him to fight for equality for those who cannot defend themselves.
“I did everything they asked, and now I ask the NFL this: Where are you now? Why haven’t we heard a single word out of the NFL? NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell, all the NFL teams out there, all the players who say they stand for social justice, where are you now?
“Why haven’t we heard a single word out of you with regard to the people who have been killed as of today? The very values you claim to espouse are being trampled right now. Why haven’t we heard a single word?”
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The day after he saved the Dodgers’ season, Will Klein was hungry. He ordered from Mod Pizza.
He drove over to pick up his order. The guy that handed him the pizza told him he looked just like Will Klein.
“You should just look at the name on the order,” Klein told him.
Chaos ensued.
“He actually started screaming,” Klein said. “He just started flipping out, which was funny.”
Thing is, if it were two days earlier, the guy would have had no idea what Klein looked like. Neither would you.
On Oct. 26, Klein was the last man in the Dodgers’ bullpen, a wild thing on his fourth organization in two years, a last-minute addition to the World Series roster.
On Oct. 27, the Dodgers played 18 innings, and the last man in the Dodgers’ bullpen delivered the game of his life: four shutout innings, holding the Toronto Blue Jays at bay until Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run.
Dodgers pitcher Will Klein celebrates during the 16th inning of Game 3 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 27.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
When Klein returned to the clubhouse, Sandy Koufax walked over to shake hands and congratulate him.
That was Game 3 of the World Series. The Dodgers, the significantly older team, slogged through the next two games, batting .164 and losing both.
If not for Klein, that would have been the end. The Blue Jays would have won the series in five games, and there would have been no Kiké Hernández launching a game-ending double play on the run in Game 6, no Miguel Rojas tying home run and game-saving throw in Game 7, no Andy Pages game-saving catch and Will Smith winning home run in Game 7, no Yoshinobu Yamamoto winning Game 6 as a starter and Game 7 as a reliever.
There would have been no parade.
When Klein rescued the Dodgers, he had pitched one inning in the previous 30 days.
“You can never take your mind out of it,” he said. “You’ve got to stay prepared. Something might come up, and you don’t want to be the guy that gets thrown in the fire and just burns.”
The Dodgers are not shy about grabbing a minor league pitcher, telling him what he can do better and what he should stop doing, and seeing what sticks. If nothing sticks, the Dodgers are also not shy about spitting out the pitcher and designating him for assignment.
In his minor league career, Klein struck out 13 batters every nine innings, which is tremendous. He walked seven batters every nine innings, which is hideous.
The Dodgers scrapped his slider, mixed in a sweeper, and told him his arm was so good that he should stop trying to make perfect pitches and just let fly.
“A lot of times, pitchers are guilty of giving hitters too much credit, and hitters are guilty of giving pitchers too much credit,” said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations.
“Part of our job is to show them information that helps instill some confidence. I think that really landed with Will.”
In his four September appearances with the Dodgers — after a minor-league stint to apply the team’s advice — he faced 17 batters, walked one, and did not give up a run. That’s why he isn’t buying the suggestion that something suddenly clicked in the World Series.
“Things were incrementally getting better,” he said, “and then you add that to the atmosphere. It amplifies it to 100. All the prep work and mental stuff that I had been doing, I finally got a chance to shine.”
Said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: “He’s done it in the highest of leverage. You can’t manufacture that. You’ve got to live it and do it. So, since he’s done it, I think he’s got a real confidence.”
Dodgers pitcher Will Klein speaks during DodgerFest at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 31.
(John McCoy / Getty Images)
Klein last started a game three years ago, at triple A. After making 72 pitches in those four innings of Game 3, did he entertain the thought that maybe, just maybe, he was meant to be a starter after all?
“No,” he said abruptly. “I hate waiting four or five days to pitch and knowing exactly when I’m going to pitch.
“When I did, the anxiety just built. I want to go pitch. I hate sitting there and waiting. That kind of eats at you. I like being able to go out to the bullpen and have a chance to pitch every day.”
The Dodgers are so deep that Klein might not make the team out of spring training. Whatever happens, he’ll always have Game 3.
In the wake of that game, a fan wanted to buy a Klein jersey but could not find one. So the fan made one himself before Game 4, using white electrical tape on the back of a Dodger blue jersey. I showed Klein a picture.
“That’s cool,” Klein said. “That’s pretty funny.”
Dave Wong, a Dodgers fan living in San Francisco Giants territory, also wanted to buy a Klein jersey.
“They didn’t have a jersey for him,” Wong said.
He settled for the Dodger blue T-shirt he found online and wore it to last Friday’s Cactus League game against the Giants, with these words in white letters: “Will Klein Appreciation Shirt.”
This, then, would be a Will Klein Appreciation Column.
Sports
NBA player calls for Hawks to cancel their ‘Magic City’ strip club promotional night out of respect for women
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An NBA player has taken exception to an Atlanta Hawks promotional night, which is a nod to a famed strip club in the city.
The Hawks have “Magic City Night” scheduled for March 16 against the Orlando Magic, but a player for neither team isn’t too fond of paying tribute to a strip club, which has been famed for its late-night stories involving athletes, celebrities and more.
While the Hawks call it an ode to a “cultural institution,” San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet shared his displeasure in a letter posted on Medium.
Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs reaches for the ball during the third quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Feb. 26, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Kornet, a nine-year veteran and 2024 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, called for the Hawks’ promotional night to be canceled later this month, saying that it is disrespectful to women to honor the strip club.
“In its press release, the Hawks failed to acknowledge that this place is, as the business itself boasts, “Atlanta’s premier strip club.” Given this fact, I would like to respectfully ask that the Atlanta Hawks cancel this promotional night with Magic City,” Kornet wrote in his post.
“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world. We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.”
The Hawks boasted about the theme night in its press release, including a live performance by famous Atlanta rapper T.I., a co-branded, limited-edition hoodie and even the establishment’s “World Famous” lemon-pepper chicken wings in the arena.
A general view of signage with the State Farm Arena logo on Nov. 14, 2025, outside State Farm Arena, in Atlanta, GA. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire)
“This collaboration and theme night is very meaningful to me after all the work that we did to put together ’Magic City: An American Fantasy’,” said Hawks principal owner, filmmaker and actor, Jami Gertz, said in a press release. “The iconic Atlanta institution has made such an incredible impact on our city and its unique culture.”
Kornet wrote that allowing the night to continue “without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, “specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”
Kornet wrote that “others throughout the league” were surprised by the Hawks’ decision to have this promotional night.
“We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision,” he wrote.
Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs defends against the Charlotte Hornets during their game at Spectrum Center on Jan. 31, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
The Hawks have seen good reception for the promotional night, as Tick Pick reported a get-in price was initially $10 for the game and has since skyrocketed to $94.
Kornet is in his first season with the Spurs, his sixth NBA team, where he has played mainly in a bench role. He averages 7.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game across 50 contests.
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