Sports Legends Of The Past: #2

Legends of the Past #2

He played for nine different teams throughout his 13-year NBA career. 

He is a two-time NBA Champion and was the teammate of one of the best players in NBA history. This same teammate also slapped him in the face. 

One of my favorite players from the 90s, his name is Vernon Maxwell, or as I like to call him, Mad Max.

Background

From 1984-1988, Mad Max played for the Florida Gators in college. In that time, he averaged 18.8 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, and 3 assists. 

Freshman Year: 13.3 ppg

Sophomore Year: 19.6 ppg 

Junior Year: 21.7 ppg

Senior Year: 20.2 ppg

In the 1988 NBA Draft, he would be selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 2nd round with the 47th overall pick. The Nuggets traded him that same day for a 2nd round pick to the San Antonio Spurs. 

And thus his NBA career began. 

San Antonio to Houston

Mad Max’s time with the Spurs wasn’t memorable. Maxwell had a difficult time adjusting to the Spurs’ environment and struggled to establish an identity in his first two seasons. Mad Max would also keep getting in trouble outside of the world of basketball. A fight at a nightclub led to many warnings from the Spurs and Coach Greg Popovich. Popovich even hired a Private Investigator to tail Maxwell. One can imagine what it must have been like to deal with both Mad Max and Dennis Rodman; somehow, Pop dealt with both.

In 1990, Mad Max was traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Houston Rockets for $50,000. He wasn’t even traded for a player. However, Maxwell’s time in Houston is where he really thrived. 

The Houston Rockets

Mad Max’s time with Houston lasted six seasons. He played alongside other greats like Kenny “the Jet” Smith, Hakeem “ the Dream” Olajuwon, and Clyde “the Glide” Drexler. All of these players helped Houston win back-to-back championships. One in ‘94, and the other in ‘95. 

Mad Max averaged 12.8 points, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in his time as a Rocket. 

His best season came in ‘92 when he averaged 17.2 points, 1.3 steals, and 4.1 assists in 80 games played. Not only was Maxwell a solid NBA scorer, but he was a consistent perimeter defender. He relished guarding some of the great NBA point guards of the 90s, including John Stockton and Gary Payton. 

Mad Max would depart from Houston following the 2nd championship. He had grown frustrated playing in a diminished role after the Rockets traded for Clyde Drexler. Although Mad Max would not see the same success he had with the Rockets, he still played eight more seasons in the NBA. 

Post Houston

After departing from Houston, Mad Max would play for a couple of different teams, including the 76ers, a return to the Spurs, the Orlando Magic, the Charlotte Hornets, the Sacramento Kings, the Seattle Supersonics, the 76ers again in 2001, and the Dallas Mavericks. 

His best seasons post-Houston came in ‘96 when he played 75 games and averaged 16.5 ppg. 

Legacy

Mad Max was a crazy dude. He was a good NBA role player when he played and a key part of the Rockets' winning two championships. He once boasted a career of 51 and was always a solid perimeter defender

He has some of the best stories in the NBA, including the time he accidentally hit Horace Grant with a dumbbell, and another when Hakeem Olajuwon slapped the daylights out of him because Mad Max was spitting on the floor because he was mad. 

One of the solid hoopers of the ‘90s, Mad Max is truly a legend of the past.