Thursday, April 05, 2012

A Mad Max Repost

Three years ago I wrote about a professional basketball player who left a huge stain on the NBA hardcourt.  That stain has just about faded into the annals of sports stories today.  But every now and then, I get this itch to re-visit a wild and crazy sports character who gave us one heck of a roller coaster ride.  


If reportage of former NBA badboy Dennis Rodman's health and financial woes is news worthy, I shudder to think of what might be reported should a journalist investigate the whereabouts and living circumstances of Vernon Maxwell aka Mad Max. He was one heck of a basketball player.


The nickname "Mad Max" was bestowed upon Maxwell by color commentators for his clutch three-point shooting, however, it came to signify his emotional and physical outbursts both on the court and off. It was a perfect marriage of nickname and personality.  Max was one mad SOB. Quick, name me one other professional sports athlete who was late for a game due to slow release procedures at the county jail?  


Other than a failure to pay child support arrest in 2009, and current Florida Gator standout guard Kenny Boynton on the verge of breaking his unofficial Gator scoring record, Mad Max seems to have simply fallen off the face of the Google earth. That unofficial scoring record by the way was due to NCAA rule violations.


So with the end of another college tournament season what better way to give a final farewell salute to the Madness of March than revisiting a player who proudly wore the label of Mad like no other.  He also wore, for a time, two NBA Championship rings (1994 & 1995).


Vernon Maxwell, wherever you are, thanks for the years of great basketball and the memories of watching an explosive player erupt both on the basketball court and off.


----------------------------------------------For Old Time's Sake----------------------------------------------


If only he'd been just a bad boy off the NBA court, he'd be remembered as a great basketball player with two championships under his belt. On the court you loved him. He brought excitement, energy and total competition to the game. He could shoot the 3 pointer with a soft stroke and his defense was game altering. He once held Michael Jordan to 9 points total in a game. If you weren't around to see his act then you missed seeing a player who comes along once in an era. He was electrifying, he was tenacious and did I mention..........He Was MAD....as in 51/50 MAD.


Vernon Maxwell, better known as Mad Max, played basketball in the NBA throughout the 90's and gave us fans one heck of a show. Love him or hate him you knew Mad Max would do something to make the game exciting. He was a great basketball player, but was also a walking time bomb on and off the court. He went into the stands to attack heckling fans long before Ron Artest was in the league. Maxwell just simply didn't have that filter in him to control his emotions. He didn't just wear his emotions on his sleeves, he came out swinging, cursing and spitting with them. Yeah, he spat into the stands too, a la Bill Romanowski. The moniker Mad Max fit him better than actor Mel Gibson who played the character in the movie. I suppose you could say he was the bad athlete of the future.

By the time he left the NBA in 2001 his personal life was in shambles. The sad thing is because Mad Max was so.......MAD........nobody seemed to be surprised or even care about his troubles off the court. As with most people who show signs of madness (schizophrenia) you remember analyzing the two opposite sides of them. Mad Max had a warm charm about him when all was well. He seemed to gel well with his teamates, well enough to win championships. But when his alter ego arose and his, for lack of a better fitting word, MAD button was pushed he went into MAX mode and was a monster. In MAX mode he could help his team take over a game and win, but if winning was out of reach it seemed all that pent up energy went into negative eruptive actions.

I'd like to remember the Mad Max who played good ball while keeping his emotions in check. As for that other side of Max, I hope he's found help for taming the monster inside. And it was a monster inside no doubt.

I went searching for a "Where is he now?" story on Mad Max and found nothing current. Figured he must be in jail or hopefully in rehab. Here are two write-ups that highlighted some of Mad Max's actions on and off the court:

Story #1

Story #2

Story #3

Story #4

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