Legend Pete Maravich died in 1988 at age 40 of an undiagnosed heart condition. And now the sad news of his son Josh Maravich passing away has been confirmed by the university. They announced it via social media on Saturday night. “LSU Basketball extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Josh Maravich.” The former LSU graduate wanted to play basketball to make his father proud.

Josh was just 5 years old when his father passed away, and he was the main driving force for building the statue. In 2022, when LSU unveiled a bronze statue of Pete Maravich outside its basketball facility, sculptor Brian Hanlon credited Maravich’s sons. “I knew I wasn’t going to be a star player, but for me being a walk-on was what I always wanted to do,” Josh Maravich said in a 2005 article in The Daily Reveille, the LSU student newspaper.

“He died at home on Friday, the LSU statement said. No cause of death has been released.’ Josh Maravich dead at 42: Son of NBA HOF’er suddenly passes away.” No official news about the reason has been made public yet.

Before representing LSU, Maravich played high school basketball for St. Paul’s in Covington. “I always told myself that scholarship or not, I want to come to LSU and play ball,” said Josh Maravich. The former coach of LSU, John Brady went to Covington and met with Josh and his mother. However, he explained the school could not offer him a scholarship but there was the possibility of him playing as a walk-on player.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be a star player, but for me being a walk-on was what I always wanted to do,” said Josh. He knew that his minutes would be limited but wanted to put on the LSU jersey where his father played electrifying basketball from 1968 to 1970. But do you know ‘Pistol Pete’ wasn’t meant to play basketball?

Miraculous Pete and Josh Maravich

Pete Maravich averaged over 44.2 points per game over an 83-game career. His NBA career was cut short in 1980 by the lingering effects of a major knee injury a couple of years prior. But his undiagnosed heart condition was more fatal than anybody could ever imagine. Josh revealed that after his father’s death, the doctor said Pete should have died at the age of 20 because he was born with only one coronary artery instead of two. According to him, “They (doctors) said for him to even live to 40 and play basketball was just a miracle.”

Josh Maravich too suffered an accident when he was just 2 years old. Although he had no recollection of that, his family reminded him a lot of time. During the second-story construction site of their home, he fell nearly two floors and landed on his head. Luckily for him, it was just two inches away from a steel beam.

“We went into a closet with a big hole in the floor,” Josh said. “My brother walked out, and he said he just turned around and I was gone.” Pete held him in his arms until they reached the hospital. Doctors even anticipated with the amount of injury that Josh would lose sight in his right eye. But he was able to recover quickly without any hiccups. He would go on to play for four years for the Tigers. The red-shirt junior played in only 12 games and on Dec. 17, 2002, became the first Maravich in more than 30 years to score for the Tigers.

Pete Maravich held the record of highest-scorer in the NCAA Division I with 3,667. It was the golden girl of Iowa, Caitlin Clark who broke the 54-year-old record earlier this year.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.