Vernon Maxwell earned the nickname "Mad Max" for numerous reasons. Aside from the controversies he got involved in, he was also a ferocious competitor who never backed down from anybody. Whether it was Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, or even his teammate, Hakeem Olajuwon, who famously slapped him inside their locker room, Maxwell was always up to any challenge placed in front of him.
One task he remembers to this day was checking Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird . Also a notorious competitor who never hesitated to remind foes of how good he was, Bird was so brazen and unapologetic that he once called Maxwell an N-word and got away with it.
As one of the best players of the 1980s, Bird approached every game with a ton of confidence. Additionally, he was an equal-opportunity trash talker, torching his opponents with both his skills and sharp tongue. Maxwell knows about this all too well, as he once fell victim to Bird's fierce competitive fire.
"Oh, yeah. He called me a n—a," the two-time NBA champion recalled . "Larry B called us a n—a. Me and this player named Buck Johnson. I played with him. I played with this MF when I first got traded over there at Houston, '89, '90, when we was playing against Boston. "
Maxwell noted that Bird shot the ball from behind his head, which often baited defenders into jumping. On one play, he did just that, which led Maxwell and Johnson to challenge what they thought would be an attempt.
"Me and Buck, I was coming from behind and Buck was coming from the front, because Buck was guarding the MF. So I was getting ready to swipe that s—t and take that ball down there and throw it down. I thought I was. That MF pump faked, and me and him, we hit each other in the air. Bam! And we some kind of way, and we fell down on the ground," he narrated.
Adding insult to injury, Maxwell said Bird took one look at them and uttered a statement that lives rent-free in his head to this very day.
"White boy old Bird looked at us," Maxwell said. "N—s, get up off the ground —and knock our head off with a damn jumper."
Bird had no problem talking smack to anyone on the floor. It didn't matter if that person was an All-Star, a veteran, the ballboy or a rookie by the name of Clyde Drexler.
While Drexler would eventually become one of the NBA's greatest players, he recalled how Bird gave him a rude welcome to the NBA .
"I was guarding him my rookie year," he recalled . "He looks at me and he goes, 'You can't stop me.' I looked at him and I said, 'Gosh. Boy, you're so confident.' He goes, 'Confident? You're a rookie. You don't know anything!'"
Drexler joined the NBA during the 1983-84 season with a lot of buzz, thanks to his incredible athleticism and scoring chops that he displayed at the University of Houston. As impressive as the high-leaping guard was, Bird was already on another level in the Association. Not only did he have one NBA title, but he had racked up numerous All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defensive Team citations.
Safe to say, Drexler wasn't in Kansas any longer.
"He proceeded to score like 10 straight points on me," he added . "Coach took me out the game, and he walks by and he's laughing at me."
Bird was truly in a league of his own. He didn't discern between caucasian or African Americans, rookies or established players; if you stepped on the court with him, he was going to punish you with both buckets and a load of verbal venom.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
