Fans of professional basketball may remember a player by the name of Pete Maravich (1947-1988). His habit of shooting the ball from his side earned him the moniker, “Pistol” Pete Maravich. “Pistol” Pete was a phenomenal player, to say the least. Here are just a few facts about this former basketball star:

Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University (LSU) and played for three NBA teams until injuries forced his retirement in 1980. He is still the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game…One of the youngest players ever inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich was cited by the Hall as “perhaps the greatest creative offensive talent in history.” 1

In spite of Pete’s success and wealth as a professional basketball player, he was unfulfilled and unhappy after retiring in 1980. Maravich became so miserable that he tried to drown his misery with alcohol, and, at one point considered taking his life. Speaking of this treacherous time in Maravich’s life, Michael Foust, in “The Christian Index,” notes:

Pistol Pete—who had found meaning in basketball since he was a child—was again searching for life’s purpose. That all changed in 1982, when during the middle of the night he knelt beside his bed and, weeping, committed his life to Christ. No one knew it then, but Maravich had only five short years to live. 2

Pete would die of a heart attack in 1988. He was 40 years old. However, in a video of his testimony, made shortly before his death, “Pistol Pete Maravich” described his search for purpose and reality in his life:

I tried everything. I tried transcendental meditation. I tried Yoga, reincarnation, life extending drugs. I became a vegetarian. I tried alcohol. At one point I fasted 25 days straight. I even got tired of basketball. After a spring game with the Boston Celtics in which I scored 38 points, I just decided to quit. I became a recluse for two years.3

After Pete Maravich gave his heart to Christ, he said, “I wouldn’t trade what I have now for a thousand NBA championships.” 4

Dear friend, perhaps you’ve tried it all and done it all, but find that life’s purpose and meaning still eludes you. Try Jesus. The hunger of your heart can only be satisfied by asking God to forgive you of your sins, and placing your faith in Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). Try Jesus.

1From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Pete Maravich.
2Michael Foust, “The Christian Index,” How Pistol Pete Found Purpose, April 12, 2007.
3Taken from a sermon by Dr. Gerald Harris.
4Ibid.