It’s not quite like finding a million bucks in a paper bag on the street, but for one Pistol Pete aficianado it was close. The story is this: in 1974 an Auburn student and huge Pistol fan happened to be in Russell-Southern clothing store outlet store one day when he spotted a bunch of Atlanta Hawks uniforms in a hamper, including this classic “Pistol 44” jersey. Inquiring about them, he was told the uniforms, made expressly for the Hawks, had been worn then returned, possibly because the players found the material a bit uncomfortable. He then snapped up the jersey and even wore the Pistol shirt proudly in pickup games. Years later, it hasn’t seemed to age a bit, at least the exterior on which the threads are tightly-knit and the colors a vivid and bright echo of Pete’s days in Atlanta. Only signs of age are the labels in the neck which except for the S size tag have faded out or worn away due to washings. Shirt measures out to a size 38 though it may have shrunk. These white Hawks home jerseys with the white and red pinstriped side panels and red on gold tackle twill letters and numbers have been seen as throwbacks, but this is vintage. One caveat: we can’t say for sure if it was worn in a real game by Pete because of the small size, however when the items were originally returned they had clearly showed wear. The call is yours. At the least, it’s a great original Maravich Hawks jersey, and a rarity in that came through the back door. LOA from the collector who found and kept it proudly for 3 decades