Does anyone know where I can find some good Vernon Maxwell articles? Preferably about his personality or about his defense. I have a short paper due for a basic writing class I need before I graduate. Rep for anyone who can help me out. thanks!
This was a great read about Maxwell. http://www.amazon.com/Keepin-Real-Turbulent-Season-Crossroads/dp/0380977141 Keepin' It Real:: A Turbulent Season At The Crossroads With The Nba [Hardcover] From Publishers Weekly The image-conscious gentlemen who run the NBA will not be pleased by Platt's revealing look at the league. A Philadelphia magazine senior writer, he has crafted an intense behind-the-scenes account of the 1997-98 NBA season by following five playersACharles Barkley, Matt Maloney, Jerry Stackhouse, Chris Webber and Vernon "Mad Max" Maxwell. Having been granted intimate access to the five players, Platt offers a first-hand look at how they handle the temptationsAwomen, drugs, the wrong friendsAof their elite position and negotiate a delicate balance between team and individual responsibilitiesAand sometimes fail. Race is an inescapable subtext of the book as Platt dwells on the difference between "'90s gangsta" players like Maxwell and stars like Michael Jordan and Grant Hill, "crossover" figures who appeal to white America and thus to corporations looking for endorsement pitchmen. Platt, who calls himself "a short, bald, white Jew who was always asking annoying questions," clearly sympathizes with the players against the "suits." He often adopts hip-hop lingo (as in the title) and argues that the conservative mindset of league executives fails to respect the street sensibility of today's young stars. He also has unkind words for most white sportswriters, believing that they are simply jealous of rich, young black men, a phenomenon he calls "playa hating." Some readers will surely think Platt too indulgent of NBA players, but there's no doubt that he presents a picture of these athletes that looks beyond the common caricatures of the role model and the gangsta. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Interesting article on how he "threw away talent and much more". Interesting read. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/30/Columns/_Mad_Max__threw_away_.shtml
why are you on this thread? i thought you hated all the Rockets from the 90s. I know you dislike all the Hakeem threads. If you hate Dream, then Maxwell is like Lucifer to you.
Oh, no tinman you have me mistaken. I don't hate all the Rockets from the 90s, I love em. Your obsession just gets annoying at times.
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you obviously didn't live it. it was not only watching the Rockets, you have to understand the atmosphere. there was no tweeting or iphones or crap reality shows with fat chicks on it. the city of houston wasn't about douchy clubs down washington, it was more real. you got to understand the dynamic of the Rockets, nobody on the team was trying to sell you $100 sneakers or energy drinks. They were real. You saw NBA players like Maxwell eating at Lubys. You might see Scotty Brooks at Home Depot or Hakeem at Whole Foods. The music too. It wasn't about how rich people are and how fancy their cars were. It was real, like Tupac, and Naughty by Nature. Tribe Called Quest. Real Hip Hop. Real R&B. Bobby Brown, Tony Toni Tone. Real stuff. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LBi-VFfnpB4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> You could read the advertisements at the Summit. You had a mascot that dunks.
Hahaha nice. I like Luby's but seriously, all the parking spaces should be handicapped. Only old people eat there.
look, i understand you guys. you are the generation that benefited from our generation. because of MJ, dunking, $100 basketball shoes, and 50 point games are the rage. because of DOOM and Wolfenstein, you guys are playing Modern Warfare. because of Tupac, Biggie, NWA, you guys think any rap music is cool. And guys like Maxwell, Hakeem, Kenny Smith, Otis Thorpe, Rudy T setting the bar with championships, you guys can take them for granted.
Back in the day, the you can see Cassell and Maxwell eating at Luby's. damn they're real! LONG ARTICLE (8 pages) http://www.houstonpress.com/1994-05-12/news/the-man-behind-mad-max/ "I feel like I'm under the microscope in Houston," Maxwell says. "This came about because of 'Mad Max.' People just portray me as being that way off the floor. I just hang out at places and people come up and ask me, 'Mad Max, are you really crazy?' "Everybody thinks I'm this wild, militant guy. I'm really not that way. I'm laid back." He'll say he won't eat at Luby's because of the pistol-waving incident, but the next day he's "off to Luby's with [Rockets guard] Sam [Cassell]."
from the same houston press article "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."
That GM is spot on, though nowadays unfortunately that doesn't hold. The league has pussified, yes i said it, and they try to crack down on any players with an edge. Ironically, they allow dirty play from players on big market teams a lot more.