“I never thought Rudy T. and the Rockets would do that” – Vernon Maxwell admits he left Houston because he felt betrayed originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Vernon Maxwell was a key player on the Houston Rockets‘ 1994 championship squad — he was a starter and their third-leading scorer. But things changed drastically the following year when the Rockets acquired Clyde Drexler. With the two playing the same position, Maxwell was forced to come off the bench.
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As a result, his playing time decreased, his scoring average went down and his overall role diminished. It all came to a head in the playoffs when head coach Rudy Tomjanovich put him in a tough spot.
Maxwell told the complete version of the story during a recent episode of the “All The Smoke” podcast.
“I was kicked off,” the retired NBA player said. “Well, I left that squad that year. Max got a little problem in the stands. Max ran in the stands and had a 10-game suspension. But while I was suspended, one thing I didn’t like about what the Rockets did, and a lot of my goddamn teammates too. Motherfuc**** ain’t say nothing to me. They ain’t call me. They ain’t checkin’ on old Max.”
“But then when I came back, they had brought Clyde in and that was a domino effect after that,” he continued. “We was going to the playoffs and I didn’t play and then I was fuc*** up behind that. The first game, it fuc*** my spirit really up. I never thought Rudy T. and the Rockets would do that to me.”
Potential Game 1 winner vs. Jazz
In Game 1, Maxwell played only 16 minutes off the bench for the Rockets, while Drexler logged in 37 minutes of playing time despite scoring only eight points on 3-of-8 shooting.
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With the Rockets down 102-100 with 2.4 seconds left, Tomjanovich put Maxwell in the game and ran the final play for him. But because he had not played the entire fourth quarter up to that point, he was ice cold, and his shot bounced off the rim, giving the Utah Jazz the victory.
Maxwell was very upset over the missed shot and felt that Tomjanovich put him in that situation. He was so disappointed that he left the Rockets hotel that night and boarded a flight home.
The team initially said Maxwell suffered a hamstring injury, but later admitted that the guard had taken an indefinite leave of absence.
Without Maxwell, the Rockets went on a Cinderella run to the 1995 NBA championship and became the lowest-seeded team ever to win a title. Houston waived Mad Max after the season. He bounced around the league until the 2000-01 season but was never the same player again.
Maxwell regretted leaving the Rockets
In 2022, Maxwell told the “Forgotter Seasons’ podcast that he regretted leaving the Rockets after that tough Game 1 loss.
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“I f**ked up… I mean, I was getting ready to get paid. A nice, damn big, nice contract. And back then, $25 million was a big deal back then. All I had to do was sit my a** over there, behind Clyde,” Maxwell said.
“But, like I keep telling these kids. This sh*t is not about the name on the back; it’s about the name on the front of the jersey. They did what they felt like they had to do; they brought in Clyde. I got upset; I went after Game 1, I left before Game 2, and that was the end of the relationship. That was the end of the Houston saga,” he added.
Despite leaving the team at the start of the playoffs, Maxwell still got his second ring from the Rockets. However, his decision cost him throughout the rest of his career.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.