I am very happy that Yao is playing so well, but they need to give him another number besides 11. 11 was worn by the greatest Rockets 2 guard ever, Vernon Maxwell. Vernon started CLUTCHCITY by blowing up against phoenix in 93 after Eddie Sefko labeled the team CHOKE CITY. Retire Vernon's number and give Yao another! I know you guys are going to talk about Vernon whipping up fans and some hoes, but they deserved it!
Calvin Murphy is the greatest Rocket 2-guard ever. I would have a hard time seeing a player's number retired after he flat out quit on his team.
Maxwell was a big part of the first championship run he made several clutch shots (game 6 nba finals I believe) but guys like Horry and Cassell also made clutch shots so do we retire their numbers to? What about Otis Thorpe.? Max was defintely a nice player but look who else we have retired Malone Dream Drexler Rudy and Calvin. Is he in the same class as those players? No way.
Vernon won game three, in Phoenix, 1994 for the Rockets. Period. By the way, Yao was given a list of numbers. Yao chose 11.
Wasnt the Fan mocking Maxwell's ill or dead child? Or something serious like that? If I remember that was the case and if thats the case maxwell did the right thing. That is just sick.
When Maxwell was with the Houston Rockets in 1994, he once swung a free weight at Herrera, who needed 30 stitches to close the gash in his head. Mad Max reprised that scene during practice this season in Seattle, brandishing iron against Gary Payton, who picked up a chair in self-defense. Horace Grant, who rushed in to break up the scuffle, suffered a shoulder injury in the fray. Hey, way to take one for the team! You might say that impulse control is not Vernon Maxwell’s specialty. In 1995 he was hit with one of the biggest fines in NBA history—$20,000—for going into the stands in Portland and punching out a 35-year-old home-products salesman. That same year he was arrested for allegedly waving a loaded pistol at a motorist who honked at his Porsche. And while Maxwell scored the most points in the history of the University of Florida, don’t look for him in the record books. Due to a series of shifty drug-, money-, and alcohol-related offenses, the NCAA doesn’t recognize a single basket he scored in his last two college seasons. Norm Sloan, the Gators’ coach at the time, is no fan either. Sloan still suspects that Maxwell fixed a game after his star player failed to score a single basket in the second half of a two-point loss to the University of Tennessee. “It’s amazing that no one has killed him or he hasn’t ended up in prison,” says Rich Lord, host of Sports Talk on KILT-AM in Houston. “I’m sure his mother is very proud.” http://www.maximonline.com/sports/articles/article_3581.html Why are you trying to defend this idiot?
Because you are demonizing him. You think that he deserves to be in jail RIGHT NOW! You think that he is on a rampage RIGHT NOW and that mothers and their children should run for the hills. You think that he is robbing a 7-11 RIGHT NOW. See, when you list out his offenses like you did it capsulizes all the bad things about him; he has a bad temper. Always had. Drug problem? How many other Rocket players have been caught? We know about his temper. But, his play on the court (fire) was one of the reasons we didn't back down from Phoenix. Do I think that his jersey should be retired? No. (back to the main issue)... Yao picked 11. If I saw Vernon on the street I would walk up to him and thank him for the great memories in Houston. You would spit on him. Then he would punch you. Then, you'd sue him for reacting.
David S- Solid reply. Agree with what you said. However, I do think you put too much emphasis on Vernon Maxwell winning that game for us all by himself. Did he? Technically (stastically) probably. But he really didn't play significantly different than he played the whole season or his whole career in Houston. He was a mediocre scorer with a less than stellar FG%. Heck, he shot 3 ptrs. under 30% that year and never got much higher than that while ont he Rockets. What he did do, though, was have freakin amazing games or amazing plays every so often. He would break out a 20+ point night, or crazy ridiculous shots to win games. Let's not forget about the 3's he nailed in games 6 and 7 of the Finals as well. All I'm saying is, I don't particularly remember anyone else on the team being overly flat or anxious that game, I just remember the Suns being a good team, and Maxwell getting on fire. The Rockets weren't stupid - they went to the hot hand. They may have won without Maxwell's great game. For that matter, let's not forget that Hakeem was still being double and triple teamed that game, and the rest of the players still brought out their usual solid, generally mistake free games. Max coming out with
NO, what I think is that he is nothing to be celebrated. Im not demonizing him, I am stating facts. Vernon Maxwell was a solid player when he was not beating up teammates and waving guns at people. Vernon Maxwell is a violent man and in no way should be looked at as a role model. I dont know what all this babble about "RIGHT NOW" is, maybe you can further explain that to me?
That's my favorite game of 1994. I have it on tape. It had it all. Hakeem in the post, and one! Horry rebounding like a mad man, and put backs! Cassell driving to the basket, and one! Maxwell, hitting 5 consecutive 3-pointers in a row! Remember, the Rockets were considered down and out before that game.
Meaning that you think that he's a bad person, to the core, right now...because of this past. Is he at home right now eating dinner with his family...You wouldn't believe that... You make it seem as though he's out on the town robbing banks, right now! Demonizing. Let me put it to you another way. Let's say as a kid, you get detained by the police beause you stole a candy bar in 1970. Let's say you get a ticket for jaywalking as in 1975. Let's say you get a ticket for speeding in 1980. Let's say you get into a bar fight in 1988. Let's say you get busted for a smoking pot in 1991. Then, someone writes an article on you and lists out all the bad things that happen to you in your life. The conclusion of the article: Your're a bad person to the core and must be put in jail for the rest of your life. "A bad person!" Demonizing. Ask Hakeem all the good times they had with Vernon. What about Kenny Smith? They had good times. What about Rudy? Lots of high-fives and laughs. See, all you can remember are the bad things on a LIST. Was Max a role model? No. Never said that.
I agree with this terrific post by DavidS! Why rehash Mad Max's past! He did some awful stuff in the past, but I have'nt heard anything "BAD" that he has done lately, and I have fond memories of this guy while he was on the court playing BBall!! I thought he contributed well 2 the ROXS champ days!! He was a tough defender & good scorer! Oh well, I guess they don't call him Mad Max 4 nothing!
I liked Vernon as a Rockets Basketball Player. I did not approve of his lifestyle or his thugery. When one crossed over into the other it left a bad taste in ones mouth. He will be remembered for his basketball but will not have his number retited. That is reserved for the Superstars.
DavidS, Vernon quit on this team. After the Game 1 loss in Utah in '95 he quit on this team and went home. That is unforgivable.
