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Contents 1 College 2 NBA 3 Behavioral incidents 4 External links

Vernon Maxwell (born September 12, 1965 in Gainesville, Florida) is a former professional basketball player who played in the NBA from 1989-2001, with his longest tenure being with the Houston Rockets. Aside from his basketball achievements, was notorious for his erratic public behavior and run-ins with the law, and was arrested eight times in ten years. The nickname "Mad Max" was bestowed upon Maxwell by color commentators for his clutch three-point shooting, which reached its pinnacle in the deciding game of the 1994 NBA Finals between Houston and New York. Maxwell is among a handful of players to amass 30 points in a single quarter, accomplishing that feat on route to a 51 point outing January 26, 1991 against Cleveland.

Vernon Maxwell played for the University of Florida.

As a high school senior, Vernon Maxwell was the state of Florida's Mr. Basketball, as well as being an All-State defensive back in football. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 20.2 points as a senior and still holds 15 Gators records. He left school after four years as the Gators' all-time leading scorer (2,450) and the No. 2 scorer in Southeastern Conference history behind Pete Maravich. He averaged more than 20 points in both his junior and senior seasons.

College stats provided by http://www.sportsstats.com/jazzyj/

                 G  MIN  FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA REB  PF AST  TO BLK STL  PTS
84-85 Florida   30  752 163  366          72 105  72  68  40  49   1  29  398
85-86 Florida   33 1142 262  566         124 177 147  80  81  89  14  47  648
86-87 Florida   34 1086 266  548  45 128 161 217 125  88 121  81   3  69  738
87-88 Florida   33 1214 230  515  58 147 148 207 137  63 142  92   3  61  666
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TOTALS         130 4194 921 1995 103 275 505 706 481 299 384 311  21 206 2450

                 MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%  RPG  APG  TPG  BPG  SPG   PPG
84-85 Florida   25.1  44.5        68.6  2.4  1.3  1.6  0.0  1.0  13.3
85-86 Florida   34.6  46.3        70.1  4.5  2.5  2.7  0.4  1.4  19.6
86-87 Florida   31.9  48.5  35.2  74.2  3.7  3.6  2.4  0.1  2.0  21.7
87-88 Florida   36.8  44.7  39.5  71.5  4.2  4.3  2.8  0.1  1.8  20.2
----
TOTALS          32.3  46.2  37.5  71.5  3.7  3.0  2.4  0.2  1.6  18.8

NBA highlights provided by NBA.com http://www.nba.com/playerfile/vernon_maxwell/bio.html http://www.nba.com/0001Video/maxwell_clips_051394.avi

After Florida, Vernon Maxwell's career moved to the NBA. He was a key member of the Houston Rockets first championship team. Known for his clutch shooting, Vernon Maxwell hit several game-winning shots throughout his career. His defense was tenacious, and he is remembered by many for having kept Michael Jordan significantly below his season scoring averages. Vernon acquried the reputation of being a feisty player. He earned a mention on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1994. Letterman asked his guest, Spike Lee, if there was a similar player on the Rockets who brandished Reggie Miller's manner, to which Spike replied, "Mad Max". During the 1995-1996 campaign with the 76ers, Maxwell contemplated trying out for the football Eagles, harkening back to his exemplorary exploits on the high school gridiron. Maxwell's last significant contribution in the NBA was during the 1999 playoffs, playing a pivitol role with the underdog Kings in taking Utah to the series limit.

• 1987: Due to NCAA violations, all the points he scored last two seasons in college were eliminated from the record books.
• 1994: He was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon.
• 1994: He swung a free weight at the head of his teammate Carl Herrera, who required 30 stiches.
• 1995: He took two weeks off from the season for "personal problems", only to admit later that he merely wanted an in-season vacation. The incident was hyped as Maxwell being disgruntled at the team's recent acquisition of Hall-Of-Fame guard Clyde Drexler.
• 1995: In a game at Portland, he ran into the stands to punch a fan, later claiming the fan had heckled him over his wife's miscarriage.
• 1997: Ordered to pay $592,000 for knowingly infecting a woman with herpes. The plaintiff was awarded a default judgement as Maxwell did not appear in court.
• 1999: In Florida, he was arrested for failing to pay $160,000 in child support.

• ClutchFans.net Profile - Houston Rocket Fan Site
• Career stats
• Child support
• "'Mad Max' threw away talent and much more" - Column by Hubbert Mizell of the St. Petersburg Times