Vernon Maxwell recently discussed a popular narrative about Michael Jordan that frustrates him to no end.
Jordan was undoubtedly the best player of his generation and arguably the greatest of all time, winning six championships from six NBA Finals appearances in the 1990s.
He repeatedly prevented other great teams from winning titles, like the Utah Jazz with John Stockton and Karl Malone.
The only team to have success during Jordan’s prime were the Houston Rockets, and Maxwell was fired up talking about them.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty ImagesVernon Maxwell dismisses Michael Jordan retirement claim
Maxwell won two championships with the Houston Rockets (1994 and 1995), led by Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon.
And the shooting guard told Barnes and Jackson that he knew the Rockets would win the title in ’94 as early as training camp before the season even started.
“We knew that year, in 93/94, that we were going to win the championship. We started out the year like 23-1 or some s— like that,” he explained.
“We knew it was a special year. We went into training camp knowing that it was a special team, and we had the big African in the middle.”
However, many believe the Chicago Bulls would have won those titles instead had Jordan not retired to play baseball in the middle of his prime.
Maxwell did not hold back in his passionate rant about why those suggestions are unfair. “I don’t want to hear all that b——-.
“He was there the second year. You’ve got to understand Shaq and them [Orlando Magic] beat them. You’ll say ‘he wasn’t in basketball shape’. F— that, he was in basketball shape.”
How did the Chicago Bulls do without Michael Jordan?
Anyone who has followed LeBron James’ career will know that his former teams have fallen apart whenever he has left to join another.
That wasn’t the case for Michael Jordan-less Chicago Bulls in the 93-94 season, as they won 55 games and finished third in the Eastern Conference.
Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and BJ Armstrong averaged 22.0, 15.1 and 14.8 points per game, respectively, and all made the All-Star Game.
The Bulls swept the Cleveland Cavaliers 3-0 in the first round before losing in seven games to the New York Knicks.