After Years of Living Only for Basketball Fame, the Late Pete Maravich Found Peace in His Faith

Years ago a young boy named Pete Maravich dreamed of becoming the best player in the history of basketball. He dreamed of one day playing in the NBA. He dreamed of winning a championship. His dreams might have seemed unbelievable to those around him, because the eighth grader had not yet had time to develop his talents. He was short and skinny.

Years later Pete Maravich would leave LSU as the top scorer in the history of college basketball, scoring 3,667 points and averaging an unbelievable 44.2 points per game. He averaged 43.8 points a game as a sophomore, 44.2 points per game as a junior, and 44.5 points a game. Years later nobody has equaled his record at the college level. He also was chosen one of the top 50 NBA players of all time, for a career that spanned from 1970-1980 and included stints with the Atlanta Hawks, Utah Jazz, and Boston Celtics. He certainly did see his dream of playing in the NBA come true, and while he may not be considered the best player of all time in the NBA, some may consider him the best college player ever, at least one of the best to never play in the NCAA tournament. He never did win a championship in college or the pros, however, although he did win a high school state championship.

Despite everything, he said years later that it was not until he came to believe in Jesus Christ as God's Son, His Savior, Whom Pete believed died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again to give a home in heaven, that he experienced true peace. He died at a young age, 40, on January 5, 1988, but not before finding the elusive peace that had evaded him before.

Pete Maravich, who was known as "the Pistol," certainly worked hard enough to obtain his success. While his fellow students may have laughed at the idea that the short, skinny eighth grader would make it in the NBA, Pete worked hard to prove them wrong. He spent hours practicing dribbling, ball control tricks, head fakes, and long shots. He even took a basketball in with him and practiced dribbling while watching a movie at a theater. He shot 100 free throws every night before he went to bed. Years later some would say Pete Maravich was the best basketball handler in the history of the game.

Years later, former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown said that if college had a three point shot when "Pistol" Pete Maravich played, he would have averaged 57 points a game. Who knows how much more he would have accomplished, if he had been allowed to play as a freshman, as athletes today are allowed to do? His career high in college was 69 points in a game against Alabama, one of three games his senior season in which he scored more than 60 points. With "Pistol" Pete Maravich playing for the team, the Tigers improved from 3-20 the year before he went to the school to 20-8 his senior season. LSU played in the NIT tournament that year before losing to Marquette 101-79 in the semifinals.

"Pistol" Pete Maravich never achieved his goal of a championship in the NBA. He scored 15,948 points, for a 24.2 scoring average, 16^th best all time. He once scored 68 points in a game against the New York Knicks. He was traded from the Hawks to the New Orleans Jazz, just before the team went to Utah, for eight players. He led the NBA in scoring during the 1976-1977 season, with a 31.1 points per game average. He was a five time NBA All-Star. The Boston Celtics did win the championship the year after Maravich retired.

"Pistol" Pete Maravich suffered an injury near the end of his career. He said that helped his life go downward into alcoholism. As he searched for purpose in life, he tried yoga and Hinduism.

Things changed when Pete Maravich became a believer in Jesus, however.

"My life had no meaning at all," Maravich was reported as saying of his life before becoming a Christian, according to http://www.brainyquote.com. "I found only brief interludes of satisfaction. It was like my whole life had been about my whole basketball career."

"Money will buy you anything but happiness," Maravich explained why only his faith brought him satisfaction and peace, as quoted in the forward by James Dobson in the book, Pete Maravich, by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill, published by Sport Classic Books. "It'll pay your fare to everyplace but heaven."

After "Pistol" Pete Maravich became a believer, he spent the rest of his short life sharing his faith in many ways. He started a basketball camp at Clearwater Christian College, primarily so he could share his faith. At the camp, he especially spent a lot of time with those others might ignore, like a fat player, or an angry one. Players received 9.5 hours of basketball instruction daily and the chance to become believers. Pete became concerned about the spiritual welfare of his wife and father. As they watched the change in his life, both became believers. Pete also traveled to churches to share the story of his conversion. He even returned, after vowing he never would, to the campus of LSU to share his story.

He played in a halftime exhibition of a Mavericks-Lakers game to benefit sickle cell and cystic fibrosis research. He played in the NBA's Old Timer's Game, at only 35, the youngest player to do so.

Some may say it was fitting that "Pistol" Pete Maravich died about an hour after playing a pickup basketball game at the Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, California, against a bunch of players who were not sports stars, as he once was. One of them was James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family. Pete had a heart problem nobody knew he had, and after having a seizure, he died in the arms of Dobson, who was not able to revive him. Although he is remembered most for his basketball, Pete, the youngest person ever to be inducted into the basketball hall of fame, said he wanted to be remembered not for that, but for his dedication to and service for his Lord.

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