He was important, no integral, to us getting to the next level, but the way he went out was a big mistake and made him look very bad. Glad he seems to have realized that, but part of me will never forget him on that golf course talking bad about the team and jake-ing it. Doesn't mean I'm not over it, or that I don't know what he did for the team, or even that I don't like the guy. I always did... I just hate the way he finished things up here, and he could have kept his mouth shut but he ran it and said all the wrong things. Forgiven but not forgotten, but I wish this team had someone with that fire and clutchness.... well, Pbev is close in many ways, but there is no one like Max was on that Rockets team. Not bitter. Glad things are going good for him. Just wish he'd not done what he did, or at least kept more quiet about it, instead of lighting the whole situation on fire.
Saying he's extremely important is way overstated. Just from our championship teams alone, he's less important than Dream, Clyde, Horry, Thorpe, Elie, Cassell, Smith. He was an interchangeable role player. And that fact was thoroughly demonstrated when Elie took his place and we didn't miss a beat.
Dude, you don't know your Rockets history at all. Who led the Rockets in assists in the championship year?? When the Rockets were labeled "CHOKERS" who led the Rockets out of the 0-2 hole?? It wasn't interchangeable.
History lesson for you newbs <blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Vernon Maxwell with a magical Game 3 performance in the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals. Watch the highlights! <a href="http://t.co/2fxfEnU2Cp">http://t.co/2fxfEnU2Cp</a></p>— NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/608090730762936320">June 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <PRE> Basi Starters MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS Otis Thorpe 44:00 6 12 .500 0 0 4 4 1.000 2 6 8 1 0 1 0 1 16 Hakeem Olajuwon 41:00 11 17 .647 0 1 .000 4 6 .667 2 13 15 6 2 6 5 5 26 Vernon Maxwell 38:00 14 24 .583 4 7 .571 2 4 .500 0 2 2 4 0 0 1 4 34 Robert Horry 32:00 3 6 .500 0 1 .000 7 8 .875 2 3 5 4 3 0 1 3 13 Kenny Smith 21:00 3 7 .429 1 1 1.000 0 0 0 3 3 5 0 0 0 2 7 Reserves MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS Sam Cassell 27:00 5 11 .455 1 3 .333 1 3 .333 0 1 1 10 1 1 0 2 12 Mario Elie 21:00 3 5 .600 0 1 .000 2 3 .667 0 3 3 8 0 0 0 3 8 Carl Herrera 9:00 0 1 .000 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 Chris Jent 7:00 1 2 .500 0 1 .000 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 Team Totals 240 46 85 .541 6 15 .400 20 28 .714 7 32 39 38 6 8 8 22 118 </PRE>
Max was on a fire truck or some big truck during the first championship parade. I was standing next to it. I called his name, got his attention and reached out my hand. He reached down and gave me a hand shake. So, in my book Max is cool. I am glad he has been back in town lately.
Do they now sell Maxwell jerseys or was it a special giveaway with his signature? Any body managed to get one??
I'm pretty sure he might be like...my 2nd fav Rocket ever. Growing up, I started watching at the end of 91-92 season. When Max came in I wasn't sure if I loved or hated him, but I knew Max being in usually made things exciting. What happened in 95 was brutal, but I felt bad BAD bad for him once Drex got here. I understood why his minutes were smaller, but man o man I felt for him. I mean, he went from being pretty much our 2nd best player to getting almost no minutes. Thorpe, Horry, Elie, Smith, Cassell, etc...they were great too, but Max was a voice and a fire for us. He was a leader in his way, and our character. Its tough to say with a straight face, but yeh. 2nd fav I think. Sure Drex and the crew are up there with Yao and so on, but there's something about Max. Plus, until Harden can turn it on all playoffs long (or at least for more than 50% of it...) then he's not up on that list. I also hate how Tmac left, but at least he performed consistently when it mattered most. He just didn't have what he needed around him except Yao. Harden can do alot, but if he can't push himself to be more aggressive in the postseason with less sloppy passes (omg those in-paint bounce passes)... then we're in for a lot of playoff hurt coming up in the next few seasons! I think we'll get better tho, and sorry to venture off topic.
LOL WOW. You are so wrong its not even funny. And of course we didnt miss a beat when that happened, HE HADN'T BEEN PLAYING so how could they miss a beat when he was suddenly gone? If I watch 5min of TV a day, then my tv stops working, my life doesn't really change. Terrible point and you did NOT watch him back in the day then.
Not bitter at all - with me it is a matter of principle. He crossed a line from which there is no coming back. Him making his "peace with the Rockets" 20 years later is a joke - I don't want nor need anything from someone who quit on his team.
The Rockets don't sniff that first title without Mad Max...AND....in the preceding years, if we could have gotten past Seattle et. al, he would have been a huge reason why we go on to beat the Bulls...every time. It amazes me how the same folks who were crying tears of joy as we took down the Knicks for the title, can sit here and minimize Vernon, his contributions...forgetting that he was a mammoth part of the HEART of those Rockets that finally broke through. The same thing that made Mad Max great was also his Achilles Heel. It was part of the deal. But, forget about this revisionist history BS laid out from some moral high horse with blinkers on.
So if you got demoted at work and you left and your boss knew that was the best thing to do, you crossed the line? Your opinion is yours of course, but the reaction by others were different. Fans, teammates, even les, who wouldn't give him an extension after the title welcomed him back. If the guy who created ice cream quit , would you hate ice cream? No And don't lie to yourself to think that max wasn't crucial to the first title. There's video evidence he was and from what his teammates said. Which is more important than what anyone of us says except for clutch
This post is beautiful. You could say horrible things to the players now and they wouldn't even acknowledge you. That dude in Portland insulted max's kid and he got popped. And what i see here is bitterness because they know the love for max is real.
