He repeatedly prevented other great teams from winning titles, like the Utah Jazz<\/a> with John Stockton and Karl Malone.<\/p>\n The only team to have success during Jordan\u2019s prime were the Houston Rockets<\/a>, and Maxwell was fired up talking about them. <\/p>\n Maxwell won two championships with the Houston Rockets (1994 and 1995), led by Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon<\/a>.<\/p>\n And the shooting guard told Barnes and Jackson that he knew the Rockets would win the title in \u201994 as early as training camp before the season even started.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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\u2014 like that,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n However, many believe the Chicago Bulls<\/a> would have won those titles instead had Jordan not retired to play baseball in the middle of his prime.<\/p>\n Maxwell did not hold back in his passionate rant about why those suggestions are unfair. \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear all that b\u2014\u2014-. <\/p>\n \u201cHe was there the second year. You\u2019ve got to understand Shaq and them [Orlando Magic<\/a>] beat them. You\u2019ll say \u2018he wasn\u2019t in basketball shape\u2019. F\u2014 that, he was in basketball shape.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n How did the Chicago Bulls do without Michael Jordan?<\/p>\n Anyone who has followed LeBron James\u2019<\/a> career will know that his former teams have fallen apart whenever he has left to join another.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"NBA](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2172934868-961x627.jpg\")
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein\/Bongarts\/Getty ImagesVernon Maxwell dismisses Michael Jordan retirement claim<\/p>\n