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Player Statures -- Shaq, Pettit, Maravich
Statues Of LSU Stars
They were three of the greatest to ever play the game at LSU in completely different eras.
They were three of the greatest to ever play professionally in the Natonal Basketball Association in completely different eras.
But their outstanding play has been linked in so many ways including being named the NBA at 50 and NBA at 75 teams showcasing the great starts in the leagues first 50 and 75 year marks.
At LSU, not only do their names hang forever above the rafters of the Maravich Assembly Center honoring their careers, but the trio has statues honoring not only their college achievements, but their professional careers as well.
The three statues are located in the plaza on the north side of the Maravich Center. Shaquille O’Neal statue was dedicated and unveiled in September 2011, while the Pettit statue was unveiled in February 2016.
The latest was the statue honoring the building’s namesake -- Pete Maravich -- which came in July 2022.
Pistol Pete Maravich, who dazzled crowds at the John M. Parker Ag Center (the infamous “Cow Palace”) from 1968-70, had his likeness unveiled by his wife Jackie and sons Jaeson and Josh in ceremonies on a beautiful sunsplashed late afternoon.
The statue shows Pete at his best, with another perfect behind-the-back pass to a teammate for an easy bucket. The pose was chosen by Maravich’s two sons.
Peter Press Maravich scored 3,667 points in his three seasons at a time when there was no three-point shot, no shot clock and despite not being able to play varsity as a freshman under then-NCAA rules. He finished with an amazing scoring average of 44.2 points a game, an average that would have been well over 50 points with a three-point shot.
He was considered to be one of the greatest creative offensive talents ever and one of the best ball handlers of all time.
Pete was the third pick of the 1970 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. In his 10 seasons, he played for the Hawks, New Orleans and Utah Jazz, and the Boston Celtics. He averaged 24.2 points and 5-plus assists in some 658 career games with four all-star game appearances.
In introducing the unveiling moment for the statue, emcee Dan Borne said, “But tonight, it is all about the man who wore 23 with the floppy socks and the shaggy hair. Both were of another time and place, but Pistol Pete’s fabled game is as current as this season’s box scores. Fiftyplus years later, he is and always will remain, timeless.”
Pete’s wife summed up her late husband in this way when she took the microphone:
“He could truly manipulate the ball to do anything he wanted. His unassuming look, tall and skinny with floppy hair and socks gliding up the court only made him more intriguing to watch.” --
The first statue unveiling in the plaza was of Shaquille O’Neal in 2011 and was unveiled by the big man, his mom Lucille, then LSU Coach Trent Johnson and Shaq’s college coach Dale Brown. Together they pulled the necessarily large white cloth that covered the 900-pound bronze statue that unveiled a young LSU player named O’Neal dunking a basketball.
O’Neal saluted the fans and invited all the former and the members of the 2011-12 LSU Basketball team to surround him as he made his remarks after the unveilling, admitting later to the media that he never imagined the statue would be that big.
O’Neal played at LSU from 1989-92 and in his three seasons was named National Player of the Year in 1992 and runnerup for Player of the Year in 1992. He also earned NBA MVP honors, making him the only student-athlete in LSU history to win National Player of the Year in college and then a professional MVP honor.
O’Neal played 19 NBA seasons before announcing his retirement in June of this season. He has joined TNT Sports as a studio analyst when the NBA resumes play.
“They sent me little sculptures of what it would look like so I thought it was one of those little things,” he said.. “When that curtain came down it was like wow. They really did a good job. I’m honored and humbled. There are a lot of great players that came through this university – greater than me ... So I’m just honored that they chose me to build a statue of ... I think it’s beautiful. It’s fabulous.” ---
In another sun-splashed winter day in the hours prior to an LSU basketball game in Feb. 2016, LSU and NBA icon Bob Pettit and his 10 grandchildren pulled the large tarp away to unveil his likeness in ceremonies in the plaza.
Pettit remains one of the greatest to play at LSU, leading the Tigers to the 1953 NCAA Final Four and dotting the records books with his name and accolades. He then helped lead St. Louis to an NBA title and while being named NBA MVP twice and a four-time winner of the NBA All-Star Game MVP honor.
He scored nearly 21,000 points in the league, averaging 26.4 points per game with just short of 13,000 rebounds (16.2 average).
After the unveiling he told the media about the statue: “I like it very much. I wish I had that many muscles and that much hair, but I thought it was a great job. I really appreciated it. It’s just hard to realize at this time how significant that is in my life. I’ve had quite a few honors over the years, but I don’t think there’s really anything that compares to this. I’m very excited and very appreciative of all the people that were involved in this and in making it happen and particularly the LSU family.“
