The Life and Legacy of Pistol Pete Maravich

“We can say with confidence that while God’s purposes and plans are very different from ours, He is infinitely just and His timing is always perfect. He intervenes at just the right moment for our ultimate good.” – Dr. James Dobson, When God Doesn’t Make Sense

Pete Maravich was one of the greatest basketball players to ever hit the hardwood. In fact, 55 years after his college career at LSU came to an end, “Pistol Pete” is still the leading all-time scorer in men’s NCAA Division I basketball history. What makes that record even more impressive is that Maravich accumulated his 3,667 points before there was a shot clock or the 3-point line was established. Due to the NCAA rules in place at the time, Pete was also ineligible to play as a freshman, meaning that all his points were scored over just three seasons.

Analyzing game footage, it has been determined that had there been a 3-point line when Pistol Pete played in college, his points per game average would have increased from 44.2 to 57. That’s hard to fathom, but it’s true!

Drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, Maravich played four seasons for them before being traded to the then-expansion New Orleans Jazz, with whom he played five whole seasons and part of a sixth before finishing his career with the Boston Celtics in 1980. Chronic knee injuries forced Pete to retire at the relatively tender age of 33.

Robbed of his basketball identity, Maravich spent the next two years as a recluse, searching for the true meaning of life. He tried yoga, Hinduism, vegetarianism, and ufology (the study of UFOs). Finally, Pete turned to Jesus and became a born-again Christian.

In an interview in the mid-1980s, Maravich said, "I want to be remembered as a Christian, a person that serves [Jesus] to the utmost, not as a basketball player."

On January 5, 1988, Pistol Pete collapsed and died while playing a pick-up basketball game at First Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, CA. One of the other players was Dr. James Dobson, the famous Christian psychologist on whose radio program Pete was scheduled to appear later that day. An autopsy showed that Maravich died of a congenital heart defect. His left coronary artery, a vessel that supplies blood to the muscle fibers of the heart, was missing. As a result, his right coronary artery was grossly enlarged and had been compensating for the defect... until it simply burst.

Yes, indeed. God’s purposes and plans are different than ours, just like Dr. Dobson said in today’s quote. But He remains just, His timing is always perfect, and He continues to intervene at just the right moment for our ultimate good.

For Pistol Pete, that moment came on a basketball court in a church gym – his two favorite places on earth – and now he is both home and whole. I am left wondering if he and Dr, Dobson, who “graduated to glory” two months ago, have played a pick-up game in heaven yet.

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President