Josh Maravich dead at 42: Son of NBA HOF’er suddenly passes away

• While his father is considered a legend in Baton Rouge, Josh was only a walk-on
• Josh & his brother Jaeson pushed for a statue of their dad to be built on campus

Former LSU basketball player Josh Maravich, son of late Hall of Fame basketball player Pete Maravich, has died at age 42, the university announced Saturday night.

He died at home on Friday, the LSU statement said. No cause of death has been released.

Josh Maravich was a reserve for LSU – which plays home games in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center – from the 2001-02 to 2004-05 seasons under then-coach John Brady.

For the younger Maravich, it was a childhood dream to play for LSU, where his father set the men’s NCAA Division I scoring record of 3,667 points between 1967 and 1970.

‘I wanted to come here for my dad to make him proud,’ Josh Maravich said in a 2005 article in The Daily Reveille, the LSU student newspaper. 

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‘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.’

Pete Maravich was a prolific scorer during an NBA career that was cut short in 1980 by lingering effects of a major knee injury a couple years prior.

In 1988, at age 40, he died from a heart condition that had gone undetected.

Earlier this year, he was back in the headlines when his Division I scoring mark – which went unmatched by any men’s or women’s player for more than half a century – was surpassed by Iowa star Caitlin Clark (3,951 points).

In 2022, when LSU unveiled a bronze statue of Pete Maravich outside its basketball facility, sculptor Brian Hanlon credited Josh Maravich and his older brother Jaeson Maravich with the idea to depict their father – who was known for his showmanship and creativity – making a behind-the-back pass.