Former Houston Rockets star Vernon Maxwell was a guest on ‘All The Smoke’. When Matt Barnes asked about the rumors of Hakeem Olajuwon slapping him in a Rockets locker room, Maxwell admitted the story was true. He explained that in the heat of the moment, he disrespected Olajuwon and the Nigerian star didn’t hold back and slapped him very hard across the face.
“A lot of truth to that sh*t. That motherf**ker scraped his hands on the ground. Oh my goodness. Man hit me so goddamn hard. We were in Seattle. I’m having a bad first half. So I’m mad. When I got mad, I used to spit… ‘F**k this sh*t. These n***** ain’t pass the ball…”
“Dream, behind me, goes like ‘Maxie, what the f**k are you doing? That sh*t is not professional. Don’t do that sh*t. Stop that sh*t.’ I was like ‘Dream, man, f**k that sh*t. I’m tired of you, too!’”
“Why did I say that sh*t? I shouldn’t have said that. He came in and put his goddamn hands on me. He slapped the sh*t out of me when I sat down. I thought a motherf**ker punched me… Damn near killed me.”
“I went crazy in that motherf**ker. Everybody was running and scrambling. There were a lot of motherf**kers scrambling when I was doing what I was doing.”
Hakeem Olajuwon damn near killed Mad Max 😂
⁰Another classic episode on the way 💨💨💨
ALL THE SMOKE with @VernonMaxwell11 drops tomorrow on our YouTube! pic.twitter.com/kyjDvcDEkO
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) February 27, 2025
Maxwell wasn’t going to take the situation lying down. A skirmish soon broke out, but it appears the teammates were able to get things back to normal and put the issue behind them later. Olajuwon may not have been correct for slapping Maxwell, but given the disrespect that his teammate showed him, and the proud man and leader that Hakeem was, he felt he had no choice.
This is an example of the toxic behavior that used to be rampant in the NBA during the 90s. As much as basketball is a contact sport, physicality is needed if not actively encouraged. But violence, especially as a form of discipline against your teammates, is unacceptable.
This is far from the only story of violence among teammates from the NBA in the 90s. Michael Jordan admitted to punching Steve Kerr in the locker room after a heated practice session. Jordan understood the error of his ways and reached out to Kerr to apologize. Unfortunately for Kerr, he would witness a similar incident later in his coaching career.
This type of behavior, unfortunately, is still prevalent in the NBA. In 2022, Draymond Green famously punched his teammate, Jordan Poole. It completely demoralized the player, leading to him having a terrible season with the Warriors. The franchise was trying to defend their NBA championship, and the situation disrupted the entire chemistry of the locker room and led to them getting eliminated in the playoffs.
The repercussions of the incident are still felt in the NBA to this day. Anytime Jordan Poole faces the Warriors, or specifically, Draymond Green, it becomes a must-watch game. Most recently, Poole shaded Draymond after facing the Warriors. For his part, Draymond apologized once again.
Hopefully, the Green-Poole situation is the last of this kind of behavior in the NBA, as the league needs to move past such types of situations.
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