Wikipedia War: Rockets hero dishonored

maxwell was way better than those dudes. but you guys hate him because of his turbulent personal life and that he decided to leave his job after he was moved to a secondary role at his job and his pride couldnt take it anymore.

that sounds like about most of america. i guess you guys hate america too.
racism, crimes against children, hatred of country. its all hate.

you love him when he hits 3pointers to beat phoenix, but hate him cause he punched some idiot who insulted his dead child.

you love him when the rockets win a championship, but you hate him cause he decides to end his career with them

you love him when he's getting mobbed by his teammates, but you hate him that his former teammates still love him to this day

HATE.

 

Creepy,
this is article is awesome!
also if you have read DREAMLAND, there's some good max stories too.

Vernon Maxwell feels happy acting this way, and for good reason. He isn't shunned for his crudeness, gambling claims or overt sexism -- he is instead worshipped by his teammates. Maxwell has stepped up during this record-setting season and filled a long-standing void in the Rockets' leadership. "Vernon might say anything," Rockets strength coach Robert Barr says when asked about the team's pre-game huddles led by Maxwell. " 'F@@ these mother@@@s! Let's bust their asses!' I like that kind of stuff. It's just his competitive nature."

"To be a successful team in this league, you need some of the elements that Vernon brings to a team," adds ex-Rockets general manager Steve Patterson, who engineered the purchase of Maxwell's contract. "Look at the difference Dennis Rodman has made to the Spurs, Charles Oakley in New York, Rick Mahorn in Detroit. Those kind of guys are generally not choir boys.

"And if they're not going to back down from anybody on the court, they're not going to back down from a loud-mouthed jerk in a bar who's giving them a hard time. So they're gonna get into scrapes every once in a while. It comes with the territory."

 

go ahead, hate on him for hitting that fan. this was worse than any beer thrown on you.

The Maxwells have two children -- Vernon Jr. and Ariel. A week prior to the start of this season, in her eighth month of pregnancy, Shell suffered a stillbirth. The loss affected Maxwell deeply -- inscribed on the back of every pair of his hi-tops is "Amber," the name of his stillborn daughter.

"She's a big part of me," says Maxwell. "It's hard to talk about. Everybody tries to tell you that it happened for a reason, but sh@@, I don't see the reason. I don't understand that."

 

here's another article explaining how Max was such a beloved teammate:

Buford could provide help with minimal risk

by Phil Jasner, Daily News Sports Writer
Daily News Sports Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - As disheartening and disappointing as life has
suddenly otherwise become, the 76ers are in the perfect situation
with Rodney Buford.

They basically have until Jan. 8 to decide whether he is worth the
investment of a minimum-salary contract, and even if he is not they
will not have lost much.

The Sixers on Saturday added the 6-5 Buford, a second-year small
forward/big guard, when Allen Iverson was declared out for one to
three weeks with a partially dislocated right shoulder suffered in
Friday night's 91-71 loss to New York.

Kevin Ollie, signed Friday morning, is expected to start at the
point tonight against Utah, with Aaron McKie shifting back to his
more comfortable role as the shooting guard. But with rookie Pepe
Sanchez placed on the injured list to clear roster space, they are
the only true guards available.

That means Buford and Jumaine Jones, ready or not, are going to have
to play.

But Buford, with a checkered past that includes three arrests
involving mar1juana, will be under a microscope like no one else.

He said he went overseas, playing briefly for VIP Rimini in Italy's
top division, in hopes of getting another opportunity in the NBA.
That was after one arrest as a senior at Creighton University, two
incidents as a rookie with Miami last season, being included in a
multiplayer trade with Charlotte in August and being waived by the
Hornets on Oct. 2 when he showed up late for his physical
examination.

He averaged 4.3 points in 34 games with the Heat and was arrested on
April 30 in Miami Beach hours after the team had eliminated Detroit
from the first round of the playoffs.

"It's not a severe problem, it's a recreational problem," Heat coach
Pat Riley said at the time.

"I'm thankful coach [Larry] Brown is giving me another chance,"
Buford said after his first workout with the Sixers.

The truth is, the Sixers are in a bind without Iverson and starting
point guard Eric Snow, who has a stress fracture in his right ankle.
Backup center Matt Geiger's status is day-to-day because of right
leg soreness and muscle weakness, and Tyrone Hill, George Lynch and
McKie are playing through various injuries.

Enter Buford. Make-good contracts do not have to be guaranteed until
Jan. 10. If a team wants to cut the player, it can request waivers
by Jan. 8. Buford essentially has until then to show his worth to a
team starving for manpower.

And make no mistake, the Sixers are starving. They're just 8-8 after
a franchise-best 10-0 start, and have dropped their last four games
at home. Worse, they're coming off one of the most bizarre weeks in
franchise history, with Brown having taken two days off before
Wednesday night's loss to Utah. And Iverson was furious when they
waived veteran guard Vernon Maxwell - his closest friend on the
team - before the Knicks game, and more important in Iverson's mind,
just before Christmas.

"Hopefully, with all these injuries there's a silver lining down
there somewhere where we can develop some young guys, can add extra
responsibilities tio the people we have and just hope we can hold
the fort," Brown said. "It's one of those years, one of the
unfortunate things about our game."

Iverson refused the possibility of being placed on the injured list
rather than Sanchez, apparently believing he could return without
missing more than a couple of games. Initial reports had him missing
one to three weeks, then two to four weeks.

But by Saturday afternoon, team Dr. Jack McPhilemy said the
one-to-three estimate was the most likely. An MRI exam showed no
structural damage to the shoulder, and some of the immediate
neurological symptoms, such as numbness and tingling in Iverson's
arm, had disappeared.

"When you see a warrior like Allen go down, that's a pretty tough
injury," Brown said.

Brown would have preferred that Iverson had sat out the Knicks game,
resting two sore hips. Iverson insisted on playing, and went 41
minutes. But he seemed distracted by the absence of Maxwell, who had
signed as a free agent on Oct. 28, three days before the start of
the season.

"It's one thing having one guy out and asking a young player to step
in, but when you have so many injuries, so many young players,
that's tough," Brown said.

Brown feels somewhat comfortable with Ollie - a Sixer most of last
season - at the point. With Buford, he is going on the
recommendations of Heat players Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway and
ex-Sixer Bruce Bowen, plus the scouting reports from the 1999 draft.

"[Buford] is a terrific athlete who can score, who has a bright
future," Brown said. "I don't think, when we contemplated bringing
him in here, we thought it would be in this kind of situation. All
of a sudden, all these things happened. He might have to play."

SIX SHOTS

Terry Royster, completing his second stint as a bodyguard for Allen
Iverson, said he was "moving on," but that he would still be doing
some part-time work for Tyrone Hill. . .The Jazz improved to 20-8
with Saturday's 98-92 victory at Minnesota, keyed by the performance
of point guard John Stockton in the fourth quarter. The Jazz came
from 11 points back as Stockton, 38, contributed eight of his 21 in
the period. "I don't know when his clock is going to run out, but
it's tremendous how he keeps playing the game of basketball night in
and night out," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.

 

it doesnt matter if maxwell turns his life around makes amends with his kids, gets a new wife and returns to the nba as an assistant...they will always hate

oh by the way,

that was MICHAEL RAY RICHARDSON's story.

if you guys have NBATV (the real fans do), they show his story about how a small town boy who made it big in the NBA, then lost it all to drugs and alcohol. but made a triumphant return, got a new wife, and now works for the NBA again. if you watch it, Michael Ray did FAR WORSE than Vernon. He didnt even pay off his mom's house and it was foreclosed. A millionaire. most people here would try to stone him, but people like us who understand people have problems knew that he could turn it around.
http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/spears_marc/1599090.html

Sugar Ray makes sweet return to NBA
By Marc J. Spears
Special to ESPN.com

DENVER -- Former NBA great Micheal Ray Richardson has a message for the youth of Denver. It's a message the Denver native wished he could've heard himself years ago before he was kicked out of the NBA due to his extensive drug use.

"I speak about (my past) probably 75 percent of the time," said Richardson, the Denver Nuggets' new community ambassador, of his speeches to kids in Denver. "Most of the kids weren't born back when I played. What I try to explain to them is there is a better way in life outside of drugs and alcohol.

"There are going to be some kids who are going to experience it because it's out there. There's a limit to everything you do and you can't put yourself in that predicament."

Micheal Ray Richardson
Michael Ray Richardson, right, tells Denver youth that there's 'a better way in life outside of drugs.'
After starting a superstar career in the NBA, Richardson found himself in that predicament in the mid-1980s.

They called him "Sugar Ray" back then. He was a bigger-than-average point guard at the time, standing 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds. After playing collegiately at Montana, the New York Knicks drafted Richardson with the fourth pick overall in the 1978 NBA Draft and he was billed as "the next Walt Frazier." Two picks later, the Boston Celtics drafted Larry Bird.

During the 1979-80 season, Richardson became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both assists (10.1) and steals (3.23 ), setting Knicks franchise records in both categories. The four-time NBA All-Star reached his prime during the 1984-85 season when he averaged 20.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists for the New Jersey Nets. During his eight-year NBA career, the two-time NBA all-defensive team selection averaged 14.8 points, 7.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds.

"(Basketball enthusiasts) remember that I was the first big guard in the league," Richardson said. "I played both ends of the floor."

Richardson played hard off the floor, too. What began as recreational drug use turned into a full-blown addiction. Richardson's drug problems became so bad that David Stern made a decision that he called "the hardest thing I've ever had to do as commissioner." Stern banned Richardson from the NBA in 1986. Since then, Richardson said Stern has been a strong supporter of his and was happy to see him return to the NBA recently with Denver.

Following stops in the CBA and USBL, Richardson went to Europe to continue his basketball career. He said he had a chance to return to the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, but ended up staying overseas where he played 14 seasons in Italy, France and Croatia. More importantly, he also got sober thanks in large part to being overseas where he had a lot of idle time to think about his situation.

"When I first left and went over to Italy, during my first year I kind of missed it," said Richardson of the NBA. "Then, my second year I had a chance to play for the 76ers. But they only wanted to give me one year (on a contract) and I wanted two years. I was already 32 years old. I felt Micheal Ray would last a little longer if I stayed in Europe. It lasted a whole lot longer. I missed it, but I can say I was able to play in the NBA and be a successful basketball player.

“ Where I am in my life now, I feel blessed. When you look at Len Bias (a former Celtics draft pick who died from drug overdose), he didn't have a chance. For me to sit back and think about, 'What if?,' I just don't do that because even with what I went through I still played another 11 years of professional basketball. ”
— Michael Ray Richardson

"Where I am in my life now, I feel blessed. When you look at Len Bias (a former Celtics draft pick who died from drug overdose), he didn't have a chance. For me to sit back and think about, 'What if?,' I just don't do that because even with what I went through I still played another 11 years of professional basketball. Plus, I still have my good health."

Last year, Richardson bumped into Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe at a Euroleague basketball tournament in Bologna, Italy. It was then that Richardson's road back to the NBA began unfolding.

"I was telling (Vandeweghe) that I was thinking about moving back and I was looking for a job," Richardson said. "He told me to give him a call if I decided to come back. I came back on May 22 (to Denver) because my sister was getting married. When I was here, I gave him a phone call and he said he would make some calls to see if he could find something for me to do. He called me back and told me he wanted to give me a job, and I accepted it.

"For me, it's a great feeling. I've always been a fan of the (ABA) Denver Rockets when I was growing up. I always wanted to play for the Denver Nuggets, but I never had that opportunity because I was a (high) draft pick. Things just didn't happen. This here is a great opportunity and I've always wanted to be a part of the organization."

While Richardson will occasionally help the Nuggets' young players and possibly do some scouting overseas, his job is primarily focused on aiding Denver-area youth from following in the same footsteps that killed his potential Hall of Fame career. Since being hired earlier this summer, Richardson has made about 15 appearances to tell his story. And in that short time, "Sugar Ray" has learned that a lot of good can come out of a story about a fallen star.

"It's going real, real well," Richardson said. "It's going to be a lot bigger and more satisfying than I thought it would be. I'm getting a lot of positive feedback. I think I am already affecting lives. The kids I have spoken to are very excited. I am already beginning to reach out and touch a lot of people."

Marc J. Spears, who covers the NBA and Denver Nuggets for The Denver Post, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.

 

dadakota,

people want to post their opinions about max. apparently a hot topic.
let the defenders of the rockets legends go at it with the haters of rocket legends.

 

his student Sam Cassell and his boy Kenny kept his karma alive with all those clutch games!

nice try dunk!