KJ Live - Cedric Maxwell

What's happening to Maxe? Well, thank you man for having me? You did? You left with that one value a partner. I played with your daddy That would drive me to go. That was the that was like at the end of all that playing with the Clippers. I I enjoyed him.

You know, we battled so much when your dad played with the he was there with Milwaukee, and then all of a sudden we both got to be a little bit older and we got traded away from our prospective teams and ended up in the l A that day in l A with the Clippers, and we had so much fun. The only thing I laughed about is. I told him, I said, here I was. Every time they introduced your dad uh as the Clippers. Everybody, Yeah, Marcus, every time they introduced me, go back to bosting your pomb.

We hate you here. So every city I played in that year, I got booed, except when I came to Boston. Funny, that's funny. L a fan cup of fans got their nerve trying to bull a Boston god. They claimed to hate the Lakers. So I don't understand how they were booing you, But I guess so, man, I guess that's how it's going down back then in the eighties. Uh, talk to me about though Donald Sterling's Clippers. What it was like during that era. My dad's been on the

show man here talking about y'all was practicing. I would, you know, Pomona understanding Motel sixes and it was it wasn't really on that level, Yeah it was. It was. It was from the NBA. It was third world when you think about playing in the NBA all the luxuries that kind of go along with it. That for us was was kind of crazy. But I think we enjoyed it. You know, we had a bunch of veteran guys who came there all of a sudden, we were we basically

surrounded Derek Smith. At that time, it was gonna be a buddy superstar in the league. And and then he got hurt and the first i think first five games of the season. We were in the first five games and uh, you know, we're off to a good start. And then everybody got hurt and you had that Clipper, that Clipper jinks, and uh, we never we never recovered again. It was it was fun being out there. It was really different from me because you know, obviously playing in

championship games with the Celtics. Remember when one called in particular, I'm playing and and and the referee something happened and I got fouled and I was like, you know, and I looked at him. He's like, you're not with us any more. And the Clippers you're not getting that damn call.

There's no way you're getting that call. So so it was really strange kind of being out there, being in that environment and trying to understand the nature and how really the game changed from being with the Celtics a contender, to somebody with the Clippers, who were pretenders at the time. Yeah, and you, I mean the contrast and the organization's probably was a show shock for you. I saw that you had moved out to Palace Verdes and and one of the big things for you when you're in l A.

Was the commute. The drive, I mean two hours to two hours from just talk a little bit about that first kind of year and getting acclimated to the l A. C that that was that was really strange. We moved Don Cheney, who was the head coach at that time, Um, he decided he he left out in Palace version said, my wife used to babysitter's kids and they were really good ends and found a great house out in Palace Verties.

But he said, the commute, it was essentially it was gonna be maybe about almost an hour going into the sports arena, then an hour back, and like on a game day, essentially it was about four about a four hour drive on the road. And uh, it was that was that was diff But it was one thing about it, I always said after the game, it was peaceful. It gave me a chance to kind of detox a little bit. When you played in the game. Sometimes when you live

really near you're you know, you're still pumped up. Well that gave me a chance to it just kind of wrapped my mind around what happened and detox and get back home and and there was nothing like living out in Palace Verdes. Essentially I had a house that looked out onto the Pacific Ocean and looked out on h I could see Catalina, So it was it was. It was a great place to stay, and it's one of these places I wish I had sold at that time.

It was a ranch, three bedroom. We got it for three hundred and ninety five thousand dollars and uh, the Pacific Ocean was our backyard. So now I don't know if it's three million or yeah, it was. It was at the end of a dead in street, so it was like we were on the hillside and there was nothing in front us, so all you could see was

the ocean. So it was a great view. But it was again just trying to understand l A and then trying to understand basically like being in l A. I think the biggest thing was the adjustment to um being famous or not famous, because essentially when you went out to l A, I remember, you know, back east, I

go someplace. Hey, sire, that's why you doing. But then got out the l A. It was like people walking back me like, oh wait a minute here, hey, But I learned that everybody was the start in Hollywood, you know, from the from the person parking the cars deserving your food that it was only a few people out there to stop traffic. And I think Magic was one of them at that time. So it was a different environment for me. Yeah, you and you probably were on the minds of a lot of l A fans from your

Boston Celtics years. I mean, the greatest rivalry in sports in my opinion, Celtics verse Lakers, and you were a part of that, like the core run um during the eighties.

But but what I think a lot of people don't realize is before Larry Bird was drafted to the team or you know, you were the lead starting small forward average nineteen, a game Bird comes in, talk about what it took for you to sacrifice and basically get in where you fit in if you will, with the Celtics team and or as opposed to kind of you know, hey, man, I this you know I want to play you know, Average nineteen the game I deserved this you know, you

had you had another you had the opportunity to take that standpoint. Max, talk about why you decided to work with them. Well, I think that you you you understand what greatness is, and you don't fight city Hall. You know you're fit. You fit in Uh yeah, average nineteen and ten. The year before Larry came. And you know, I didn't think I was a big cheese. And Larry came the first day of practice and and you know,

I'm looking at him. I'm you know, and I'm thinking, and I was a prejudice of black player, so I hadn't seen that many white guys could play. So you walked over to the court and I remember doing like this great white hope. I'm thinking, to my mind, okay, this is its out to be a lay up. And I knocked down a couple of shots against him. Okay, this is pretty easy. But then he started knocking on a couple of shots to me, on me, and then I get up closer and closer. Man, I'm sweating. By

the end of the practice. Man, he's still draining shots. I'm like, get to the first black person I can see, and I say, you know what, that fucking white guy can play right there. That's that was in my mind set. So I'm like, hey, so I gotta is to see you know, really greatness and that. And then it was like, you know, at that that point, I understood that my game complimented his game and vice versa, and that you know, we were He was an inside I was an inside player,

he was an outside player. You know. I was gonna make it easier for him. He was gonna make it easier for me, and um, you know, just trying to use your smarts. And and I remember Ricky Davis watching him playing when Lebron came in. Yeah, you're not gonna you're you're not gonna win that battle, Ricky. There, I don't care what you do. You don't have to work

in that environment. And uh, Larry Burger coming in, you know, it was his team, you know, and and and the way they paid him where he came in, how he was playing. So it was it was an opportunity for me to adjust my game. And I had to adjust my game, probably most more than most, because not only did we get one white player, you know, Larry Burbet, Damn, we get Kevin McHale next, and we get probably Parish and my shot still going down and down at that

But it was all about winning. We had the I think we had the greatest front line maybe to ever play in the game. And those four and and us four guys that we have on with Louis and read hour about Uh, put created that Big four? Right. It was a draft I read you, you know, I started off with the foreword and Robert Perris was breaking that down on how you guys got together. Uh. I don't

think he gets enough credit for building it. And I don't think that that's that that that Big four really gets talked about enough in terms of in NBA history and how it was formed and and then and the effect and and the lasting effect it had on the game. Because y'all always six eight between six eight and seven feet, right, so six eight six, Kien sixtens seven feet and then

Larry at the small forward. But you and Kevin mckill, I mean, you guys were pretty much interchangeable and sense and it seemed like you would pick up, you would take the defensive matchup on the other end. Talk about a little been about just changing your mindset from a guy that's a nineteen and ten guys sacrificing your points just to be able to look like say, hey I got i got Bernard King on this series, or I'm picking up doc in this series and just just totally

you know, gave it your all on that end. Well, I didn't have a choice. That was the big thing. Bill Fitch walked up to me the first day of practice said I scored a couple of baskets. I was laughing about something and pulled me to the side and said it seems like a pretty smart guy. I'm like, yeah, okay, where is this going? He goes, um, you know every night you're gonna have to guard the toughest guy. I'm like,

whoa is a minute? You know, I'm I'm a lover, I'm not not a not a fighter and uh but he made it clear that look, if somebody has to be sacrificed, if you have to say, if there's some office that's gonna have to be sacrifice, it's gonna have to be you. And now I didn't. I was reluctant, but after a while I stought to embrace it and think how could we win? What could I do to make this team better? So, yeah, I had to guard

guys like your dad. Yeah, you know, guard Marcus and you know, had to guard Burnard King and guys like that. And it was tough because, you know, on one end they were trying to guard Larry and then Larry would score on them, but he and but Larry wouldn't guard him on the other end, so they'd all be piste off by the time they got back down to the office of me and and they want to take it out on me, like dude, look, hey, hey, why don't

you take it out a little? And I remember one time in particular, Larry was standing beside Bernard King and he said switch Switch. I'm like, well, no, you're standing right there. You could you could you take him for

a minute? Those were those were you know, just times. Uh. We got Robert Parrish and Kevin mckill all in one fatal swoop Golden State Warriors um that year they had the third pick in the draft, subits had the first pick in the traft, and Golden State came to me and said, what we wanna do is we wanna we're gonna give you I was a free agent. We're gonna give you a big contract once you play with Golden State.

And when they have Robert Parrish. When you get this kid McHale and that's gonna be our front line, I'm like, okay. And then two days later I see where the Subtics traded their first pick to the Golden State Warriors, and Golden State took Joe Barry Carroll and we got Robert Parrish and Kevin McKell to Holiday one of the biggest, biggest lopsided deal maybe too ever. And I like Joe

Berry Carroll. You know, it was a good players. He was serviceable, he was an All star, but he wasn't going to be you know, Hall of Fame material like Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale. So it was a outsided deal that worked on the favor of the Celtics. After you guys won the title one, you had a down year the next year. I believe you guys got swept by the Bucks. Don't tell me, but I had to bring it up because I could when I used to look at that throughout, know when I was younger, right,

and I'm like, how did this happen? I never understood it that I saw a couple of lines in the book where you said the player you guys basically or the players were just kind of kind of grown weary of Coach Fitch because of his hard grinding style. Just talk about that year coach Fitches style and why you know that collapse sort of happened. It was a sweep

to the Bucks, I mean unexpected after the championship. Well, I think one of the things that happened was that they said Bill Fitch was he was a taskmaster and he he he didn't allow us to grow his men. Because of that, I think there was a rebelliot uh you know where Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale and Nate Archie, but a lot of people just were tired. And give you an example like say, for instance, if we were at the man if we're a Madison Square Garden playing

the game. Bill Fitch had this rule early on that if we're at the garden after the game team stayed overnight, we would have to go back to the hotel, even if you have free and waiting for you, uh you know, at the garden after the game, you had to go back to get on the team all the way back and then come back if you want to. And and guys got really you know, worry about that and and there were a lot of things and and Bill just

did not let go. Instead of once you win the championship, you've created you need to create more of an environment and you grow as a coach and you let your more leeway. Well, Bill didn't do that. He wanted to maintain those same rules and didn't allow us to grow as players. And I think that really took a toll

one how we performed. And it just almost seemed like a mutiny that that that year that we lost to the Bucks, just like we were probably we were a better team, obviously a better team to get swelled, but it was just so many guys just seemed to be so piste off that we we just didn't play well at all. And then and it reflected itself just as far as like effort and lock in as far as what coach is telling y'all and executing game plans kind of like man, f this or wasn't it like that

type of prevalent attitude like f this stuff? We you know, I'm not rolling coach. Yeah, And I think that that's what you know, a lot of guys were. It was a mattitude that they felt like it was it was just too much form and because of that, I think that it made us. It took us from being a tight team to a bunch of individuals. And you know in the NBA that you cannot win a series. You can't win if you have the environment where you are splintering.

And that's what happened that year. We were splintered and because of that we got what by the Bucks and Bill Fitch ends up leaving and uh, Casey Jones comes in and Casey Jones takes on the mantle and you know, we go want to win another championship with the guys who have versus electors. Who was the big biggest difference

between Kate coach Casey Jones and coach Bill Fitch. I think that Casey was in the mindset he he he had been a former player and nothing nothing wrong with you know, you know guys who have ever played, because great Great probably is one of the greatest. But coaches we had, but I think that he had a sense of what we needed and he really let go and he allowed those guys to be individuals and and I think they were They played harder for him and respected the fact of what he gave us. And then those

players gave it back to him. So I think that's why we want Oh man, it told I mean, you could really see the differences just in the years and in the level of lock in and how you guys finished. You guys finished that season with under Casey winning the championship, correct me beating the Lakers. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and whin the I Heart Radio app search f s R to

listen live. Something I love listening to you talk about and reading about, especially when you when you were on Coop's Michael Cooper's podcast, You're talking about the Bakers, straight up Bakers, okay, and you go, you know you gonna you don't make it, You're gonna make me keep it real. I hope you got one of them button that you can make it my words, because I've been I've been really Lucive've been very solid here, you know, even say yeah, yeah, yeah,

that's all good, and it's all good. Man. I just want to know where the hate came from. Why. I mean, I know the rivalry, I get it, but what what was it? Was there an exciting incident Max that like y'all was like, oh, man, them dudes on the l A man, f them, Tragic Johnson, James Worthy, what happened? What was it? That was it? That was it? They were Hollywood and we just did not like that, you know, we were we were the hard working team and you and Magic smiling all the time and ship that just

really arked our players, and we just didn't. We just didn't like it. And because of that, I mean, we just took and I think one of the things you look at most of their players, most of the players on the Lakers were drafted and went to college as high prospects. You know, Kareem did, one of the all time greats, Magic, James Worthy, Cooper, all these guys right now we're and you look at most of the guys who were on the Celtics. Larry Brewer went to Indiana State.

I went to U and see Charlotte. Robert Parrish went to Sitting Therey mL Carr went to Guilford. So we had all these guys who are going to smaller schools, and I think because of that, they felt that much more threatened by you know, those those big time, big

time name players that you played damn. You had Pat Riley over there, and that was I just talked to Pat when we played the uh we're playing Miami, and I mentioned something to him and had him laughing now because he walked out of the room and a back and Alonzo Morning walked out first, and Alonzo's Frat, you know, I'm the mega. He walked out first, and I said, what's up, Frat, you know, talked to him and then right after that here comes out the room. He walks

out pat Riley, and I said, Pat, what's up? He does He looks at me, goes this, turns about like yo, man. He said, man, I don't want to talk to you, and I told him to stir. I said, Pat, you one of my all times favorite stories was with you. I was were playing the Lakers and there were three guys on the bench over there for the Lakers. One of them his name was Larry Spriggs. I think the Sprigs is over there talking a bunch of ships. The whole time, him and his boys three of Max, Well,

you ain't ship, You ain't this, you ain't that. I was like, okay, all right. So the ball goes alabounas near pat Riley and I'm the designated guy taking the ball out of battles. So the referee is about to hit me the basketball and I said, I said, hold a minute. The reph we kind of looked at me, like what you're talking about? Just hold up a minute? Pass that beside me, I said, Pat, get your get your button ready here, I said, give me a favor.

Put when the motherfucker's in down there, does you get in the game. Spriggs comes in, I'll score on him. I'll score a couple of baskets. You know. Pat takes him out before he goes out. I'm like, next time, real people and real players out here working working hard. Maybe you shut your damn mouthing over there. He went over there and sat down and it was quiet. Pat Riley said something to me was so so funny, you know, I told him the story, said, I know Springs gave

you work over there. I'm like, man, then if fundlet's be Spreings gonna put their springs up, we come on, man, you're serious. That was worth funny moments. One thing about you know the Lakers who they were, And now I got this big thing going back and forth with James Worthy and you know where we're we're kind of bickering in the in the news from time to time, and uh, James Worthy is almost like, uh, when everybody said anybody

stept Trump, James Worthy is anybody except the self. So so I'm saying I said that James Worthy, I said some I think it was. One of the reporters asked me a question, so what do you how do you feel about the Lakers? I said, well, I said, you know right now to where we're playing. I said, you know what, and James this is James Worthy. I said, uh, you know, when we win the championship this year, I

want you. They always said we're tied together. I said, tell me how, I asked Mills since I passed by it was gross and James Worthy said, damn, that was out with. James Worth said, well, Leasie could get some original, some something he could said original. I'm like, you can't say nothing no more original than that. The kind of my ass smell is a passing value. So they showed

James Worthy. I guess after uh, after Golden State beat us, you see James Worthy has a picture James Worthy, and he is he's mocking the Celtics by doing the same thing that Steph Curry did and said good night Celtics, like and that's anybody except the Celtics, and you know, just doesn't want so we keep going back and forth. And but you know, he told me one of the most interesting stories. She said, Max, I really liked you. I really loved corn bread. He said. I was in college.

You know, you were in college and you would see Charlotte. He was from Gastonia, which is about twenty miles away, and we were playing that night. We're playing Robert Parish sitting there university and that was a big We were the two top Independence and said me and Robert Pashil go. He said, man, you don't know. I was in the front row of that game watching you guys. He said,

I love watching you play. So it was just kind of strange for him to say something that was actually positive, you know, when it came to me or about the Celtics. But you know, he I liked you, actually like James Worthy. You know, he's one of the greatest players to ever to play the game. I wouldn't say that out loud for him or anybody else I norm on your podcast, but you know that that's that's just the truth. They had a great team. Kareem was my favorite player of

all time. I wore number thirty three in college because and I told this to Kareem, I said, you're my favorite player. And I wore the number thirt three in college. And when I got to the Celtics, I wanted thirty three. But there was a guy, Steve Gibirsky, who wore the number, and then they gave me thirty and then it's he cut that he got cut. But I was like, they said, you want to change numbers like now, No, they know what happens. Larry Bird comes in and gets thirty three,

so I probably would have had to change that number. Anyway, I noticed you you wore several different numbers during your NBA career. Correct was there any rhyme? I mean, I know the obvious with Kareem and then Bird, but what about the other numbers. Were there any rhymo reasons behind that? Or you like the numb When I was with the Celtics, I wore the number thirty. That's the first number that gave me. And then mL car we got him um as a free agent, and he wore number thirty and

asked me could he have that number? And I'm like, man, I just have to have a number. So I gave me thirty one, and uh, you know, I end up make taking that to the rafters and all that. But then I went to the Clippers, I think I wore I see the nineteen, and then I think my last year after with the Rockets, I wore eighteen. And that there was no rhyme of reason. A jersey was a jersey to me back then, and just to have one on your back was cool. Yeah. In eighty four, you you, um,

you guys wanted title that. I think you got hurt and got traded in the same year. Talk a little bit about it was a little controversial exit. UM Now, I kind of wanted to hear in your words what happened with that scenario as far as you being traded and the way you exited Boston. UM. In nineteen eighty four when the championship UH seventh game here in Boston,

uh eight and eight. I had in that final game against your guy James Worthy when points were points were premium at that time, and end up winning the game, leading the team and scoring let him in I think assists in that game. The big time thing for me. It was even you know, for me, although I was the final's MVP and eighty one that was just that was just as good, if not better, beating the Lakers

in that way. The very next year we win the championship, I came back and I had a monists tear in my knee and couldn't in the middle of the season and couldn't come back, and Kevin McHale started and he had the game of fifty six points and I knew that was the last game that I was gonna be starting with the Sultans and they were looking to trade me then. The only thing about it, I was just upset because I just wanted them to wish me the same kind of luck. We had won two championships together.

I've done so many things for this team, and at the end of the day they to leave in that manner like, you know, like I was a bad guy. And it's really always strange because you know, the year the next year, eighty five, when I couldn't come back, I was the person that they blamed essentially for losing the championship because I couldn't come back from the injury.

And I was like, man, how good was I If you had Robert Parrish, if you had Kevin mckill, if you had Larry Bird, and you have Dennis Johnson, you had four Hall of Famers, But you blame me for, you know, losing the championship. So it told me my value to the team. So when I finally left, I just said it was it was it was animosity. I just wanted to leave and I just wanted them to wish me luck, and and they traded me for Bill Walton,

and Bill came in and played for a year. They won the championship the next year, and I went to the Clippers, and you know, I was, I was. I was happy about leaving. I was stupid about leaving, though, because I left a lot of money on the table. Um, you know, the money I was the guy, uh you know by being with the Celtics that year. Uh my shoe deal essentially was you know, went from a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year from pony to almost having to buy some damn shoes. So it was it

was just it was just kind of strange. But but I just left in haste because I was just very I was just piste off at the organization because um, I guess my Um they the boss that they checked to me was my credibility and who I was us as a person. You never checked that during the times we want so when I got hurt, how can you check? And that's why I'm very seldom I'm ever you ever going to hear me say anything about a player being hurt and questioning what he can do, because the player

is the only one that knows his body. You know, they can say you're ready and do all this other stuff, but at the end of the day, it's the player that's going to make that decision. And and that's why, you know, really pissed me off about that when I left the weather and went to the Clippers. Yeah. And these stories that you're talking about, and a bunch of other good stuff are all in your book. If these walls could talk what you dropped in December correct and

talk about the timing of the book. Um, what sort of inspired you to write it and to address some of this stuff into and to really share a lot of untold, absolutely hilarious stories about your time in the league. Well, I mean it was it just seemed like it was time to me. I remember having a bunch of stories, and I'm always doing public speaking, and somebody came to me and said, yeah, man, I need you to talk about you know, this and that and what happened. I said,

And then somebody approached me about writing the book. And one of the stories, which you know I love and that you probably want, was the story with your dad. Uh, you know, me and Marcus and and Franklin net was were playing woman Frankly, it was were playing pool in Los Angeles and your dad. Your dad walks in and you know, he's like, yeah, I can shoot, I can shoot. Me and frankl way shooting and you know, we're relatively quiet.

So your dad comes in and he saw a shooting knocking down balls and I said, frank Franklin, I said, you know, let me test Marcus right here. Let me see. And I started yelling. I said, you know, while he's trying to shoot. I said, oh, and you love this. I said, you can't play that, niggapool. Can't you play that? You're playing that? U c l A. You know quiet. Everybody has to be the wine and cheese crown. Oh yeah,

you you you're the cheese crown. Brother. I start yelling at it man that brother couldn't make a But your dad told that, and I forgot about the story. But the author went and told your dad about asked your dad about, you know, when I played with the clippers, and he remembered he told the story, and the author was telling the story and then we're about to put it in the book. And then that the author that that people are so politically correct now. They were like, oh,

we can't use that word. Uh nika pole, we can't use that. I said, I said, well, what word are you gonna use? Well, how about we use African American. I'm like, what the hell I think that was the I don't think that was gonna scare my man. So no, we said, I'll tell you what we can do. You can use in I g and you know, let somebody's imagineation go. But we were we're not taking that word. That that was. That was the crusts of it. And your dad was so funny when he told that story.

And uh, when the guy told me about it what Marcus had said, he said, I was intelligent, I wasn't funny. I was funny. I was a great player. And it was it really was built up. But then when he told me the story about the fool game that I forgot, I was like, damn, that's right. We did have Marcus Johnson. They're playing pool, and he was so funny because he got he just got round. You know, you know, your dad is cool calling McCay. He he might be one of the coolest dudes with you know, I'm not sure.

There's just Denzel and then your day, your dad's up there something like cool. But when he heard me talking about that, yelling at to the top of my lunch, oh, you can't play that, niggabool when I'm yelling at you can't play that because and he just bust out. So that was a great story that I think that we had in the book. And there were many stories that I end up putting in the book that were really good. One of the most fascinating ones I think was talking

to my um. The guy asked me about my family. Initially, I said, man, with a great story. I ended up doing a girl that had that had been within college forty years ago to sit me. Uh sent me a leather a text message saying, well, four years ago I wrote your leather and I told you I had your daughter that that woman has now found me, and um, I told her you were her dad, And I didn't think that was possible because you know, I knew who this woman was and what was going on in life.

So I end up I end up taking the paternity test. Turnity test came back zero point zero point zero. So I told her, you know, I don't know, it's not true. You know it's true. You know, you know I was just the best candidate. So yeah, anyway, I'm telling my I'm talking to my sister, Lisa. I said, Lisa, I just want to let you know I took a fraternity test, and without sing to beat, my sister said, oh, so you can find out who your real father is. I'm like,

that's another candidate. That's another candid worm. Yeah, that one when I was talking about and uh, it made me made me going to the process now going back and found out I was not I was not born Cedric Maxwell. I was Centric, folks, That's who I was. I was

born out of way lock. My dad was the Ford small and my mom just kind of glossed over and she ended up married Manny Maxwell, who was in the military, and Manny took us took me around the world, took me Hawaii, all over the places places he was stationed,

and gave me his name. And but they never told me until I did not officially here until I was about sixty years old, that my my cousin, who was ten years older than me and ten years younger than my mom, finally said, yeah, I remember you remember with your little snotty nosed you was Cedric Folks at the time. And that's the first time ever heard that my name was different. Found out that I had a brother who

was also six sight. So my life has really been a kaleidoscope here, I say, in the last five or six years, that's deep. What is it like? I wanted to ask you this specifically, what is it like growing up having grown up in Kinston, North Carolina. We have a couple of NBA players, uh, Jerry Stackhouse, Brandon Ingram, what's in the water down there? And what was life like growing up in the area that you did in Kinston,

North Carolina. Well, I think that's really strange because you say that and there were there were they say that, you know, they got the Emmy for there was a documentary on um there's something in the Water the story about Kinston, North Carolina and they got the Emmy for it was myself in per capita, Kinston, North Carolina has had more professional basketball players and even players are round that uh than any other place maybe in the world. I mean the place only has about thirty thou or

twenty five thousand people. Now for the last I said, the last forty years has always had somebody in the NBA, if not one, if not to I mean Um Bullock who played with Dallas, he's actually he's actually from Kingston. Jerry Stackhouse was from Kingston, and then Ingram from Kinston. Charles Shackelford who played in the league is from Kingston.

Mitchell Wiggins who is right outside of Kingston. Uh. You know, so there are so many players that played during the era and it's just it's a hotbed of basketball essentially. That's what we did. You know, we we played ball all the time and that was a way to get out.

I was the first one that you know, got out, went to UNC Charlotte and then eventually made it to the Celtics, and then after that the preceding years, we've always had a player, uh this come out of Kilston has played major commins basketball, and it eventually got itself into the pros very Dope, very dope area of the country. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.

Search f s R to listen live. UM fast forwarding really quickly to the contemporary times, today's game. Um, you you recently and the reason it's funny how you came up because I was showing my dad the video of you g P and Draymond Hemond. Hey you were you went on the mike, Hey because I told you, because I said I wanted to, and then you walked away. So I showed my dad. Dad, he was like, let me hit him, my man, get him on your podcast.

But I wanted to just talk to you about the core of those comments that Draymond made, kind of in a larger scale, talking about today's game and the physicality of today's game and why today's player like a Draymond Green, has this misprocessing. You wouldn't he wasn't about that action back in the day, as I told me. But I asked his daddy because Daddy, if he saw me play. Um, Draymond Green is a is a central part of what they do in Golden State, and there are times when

he's more of an irritant, uh you know. And he was self in the first game. In the second game, he was just playing bullet ball. He was sucking guys down quickly, falling on people, falling on people. Yeah, I mean, just hold on the men, it's like. And then when I saw Gary Payton later on, and I just walked up to Gary and I said, Gary, let me say something about your boy, uh you know, and he said, what I said, let me day sit in Draymond ring

during the eighties, he've been knocked the funk out. That's what would have happened. And so I didn't know it was being well, I kind of knew it was, but I thought they were gonna beat it out when I said and I guess it got back to Draymond and Draymond and took a fence Cerdric Maxwell said they would knock me out, and dad that that, you know, they would punch me in the mouth. And he he was talking about but I've polled almost every player that I

played with in the eighties. I could ask your dad right now with the stuff that happened that Draymond Green did. It's not like these are just facts, bro, that's all it is. I'm not hating on him. These just facts the matter that I know. He and he mentioned he said, well, maybe Bill Lambierre wouldn't lock me up. No, Bill Lambier got blasted in Boston Garden by Robert Parrish. And then he said the one thing he said, well, you just act like people in the eighties were going around punching people.

Well they were, That's how That's how I was. And and I did a show with Isaiah Thomas and I said, I'm looking at Isaiah, I'm saying and I went and I told him later and I said, how do you think you got them stitches across your eye? Right there? That was a Karl Malone elbow. And then it was for no reason other than you would come to the basket call him a little took you out? Did they throw called alone out that game? Probably didn't. I behave him a technical and you you move on. But that's

the way the game was played. And I didn't. I wasn't trying to offend him. I was just stating the fact of how the game was played, and I said it during the eighties, this what would have happened. And then later on Dreymond came back at me and he was like, I was talking to Garrett Payton maybe two days after that, and Draymond made at the point of coming over and getting in our conversation. I was walking out and I'm talking to Gary, and Draymond walks over

and says, you're gonna be talking to Garrett Paye. You don't be talking to people right now who'll be talking about me. You will be saying that you know you protect me, GP, you protect me, and g P looking like, dude, you need to be protected like and I'm like, And then at that point I said, Draymond, I'm standing right here, you need to talk to me, and he's I don't want to talk to you, and then I just I'll

walk out and that This is what I said. The guys, my witness, your dad would love this because I said, you know what I said, Gary, I said, let me get the funk out of here right now before something happened. He's gonna still make thirty million. I ain't making that kind of money. So I said, I gotta protect myself on the back side and walked out and Draymond and that later on he came out kind of right after me,

and we talked for a minute. I said, Raymond, I'm not hating on you said, well, be a man of your word. Be a man of your word. You you said that you said that somebody was gonna punch me the mouth. That ain't what I said. I said, somebody in the eighties would knock you the funk out. That's what That's what I said. But I didn't want to inflame it anymore. I said, I am a man about my work. And finally at the end of us said, look, I happened to like you. I like what you did,

but you know, are we good? And we shook hands and we walked off. But you know, he's talked about it, and people talked about it. Matter of fact that you loved that. I think it was on YouTube and had almost two million view views when he came to that one.

I wasn't meaning anything back, but it just happened, Yeah, I thought, you know, I get into it all the time with with folks on Twitter and just in the arguments the younger generation when they talk about the eighties and they call the players from the eighties plumbers and repair men, and they just disrespect Like it's one thing to say things about who you think is better, who

is nice, and who ain't. But then when you start universally disrespecting a whole generation of basketball players, that basically set the tone and foundation for what's going on in today's NBA. That's where I take umbrage. Well, see that's what and that's the one thing I did say to Draymond. Draymond said, um he said that, you know, during the eighties, if you got kicked out of the game, you'd only had you've only been fined about two dollars. Well, that

that's a that's a mockery. I said, you'n gonna say stuff like that. And I said, and I said, even now, I said, for Draymond Green to say that that was offensive to anybody I played with and anybody around me during that time. And I said, because he makes he made that third he makes that thirty million dollars a year because he was he got on my shoulders and everybody around me like the people I stepped on their shoulders, So it was disrespectful. The last point I made to

him or anybody who want to hear that. I said, it's only been thirty two now, maybe thirty three guys who have been found m VP, and damnn, I'm one of them. So I'm not one of these these flies that you're going. Well, like he had talked to Charles Barkley, you ain't one nothing you he did nothing that that Well, you can't say that to me when it comes to to my game. He did say something like, well, the guys during the eighties, they would have had to increase

their skill level. Well, their skill levels were really good. You probably would have had to increase your skill level to play with all the hand checking. Step as great as he is during the eighties. I think maybe because its been slowed down just a little bit because people have been able to put hands on it and and kind of push him away. Right now, you can't touch you guys, because you can't touch you guys. The way

he shoots the basketball almost impossible to guard. Yeah, well, is there if there's a player that you could compare Steph Curry too from your error or before that era, maybe in the A B A days when they had a three pointer. I don't know, Maybe there's a guy that just the jumper and the ability just to move so well without the ball and then go off the bounce.

Have you seen anything like it Max before? The only guys I know that maybe shot like that was Freddy Downtown Brown who would come off these picks and long distance knocking down jump shots, moved well without the basketball. But but there's nobody really likes there. And and the thing that I admire about him, I said, only you know his great DESI when you think about Steph Curry, only two guys that I know have changed the game, and the game had to be changed, see, you know,

kind of fit them fit them in. One of them was Worth Chamberling. They changed the rules. He couldn't be in the lane, They made the lanes bigger, they did this. The other one, it's Steph Curry with his ability to knock down trades. And you see, guys, right now, you you've been around ball enough that you you you have an understanding that guys who can't even fucking shoot, Now that's the first thing to do, run up to the three point life so they can give one of these

size and all this stuff from these shoot threes. It's not it. Steph Curry is is a unique individual, and he is broad in the game out in a way that I can't even imagine. I only hardly understand the game anymore, your dad. A lot of people in the eighties don't understand the game anymore because instead of taking a layout, you're right under the basket, you flinged up all out to the two or three points shoot. And I mean, I'd rather just give me a solid too

sometimes then looking for three. But the game has changed in that way. I understand that I'm not hating on it, but I do understand this change. But in some ways don't know if it's changed for the for the better, because nobody is like Steph Curry shot the basketball. Yeah, And when we say like the game has changed for the better or for the worst, I think the game now the emphasis is more about basketball entertainment. It's more

about the marketing aspect. It's more about preserving guys, keeping guys healthy, making sure that the stars are able to play these dates. You know what I mean. Because so it's less about look, the emphasis on competition. Sure, these guys are fighting for the championships that they win. They earned this stuff. They're busting their butt. But the league as a whole, it seems like the emphasis you change.

If you remember early in the season, Marcus Smart dove on the ball playing against the Warriors, Marcus Smart dove Steph Curry kind of didn't dive, and then Steph gets hurt. But everybody's just calling Marcus Smarter dirty player basically for

playing hard. Talk about though, just this this basketball entertainment aspect, Max, do you understand it, like like the the globalization of the game that started with David Stern and incorporating all the Europeans in and now you have a game that's played at a fast pace, a lot of threes, very little physicality on the inside. Just talk a little bit about that evolution and and why would it be bad for basketball? Like, why isn't this great for the game?

Without any type of pushback, Well, I think because you said entertainment, the aesthetics of shooting the threes. Now the the the actions that go along with it. Um, you know the bang you get for your buck when Steph Curry comes down the steps back behind the line and people get a chance and you know the gas and you know when that ball goes in. Uh, the game has changed. And he said, then they're trying to preserve that.

You know, you see the longevity of a guy's career now, you know when you see Lebron James getting up to twenty twenty years and still dropping, you know, almost thirty points a game, you know that that was unheard of you When me and your father played, it was like if you got ten years in the league plus you that was a great rear. Now essentially you're in your prime because the physicality isn't there, and the workload isn't there.

The fact that right now teams are teams really uh they baby their players and and too in a good way. And the fact that they have you know, training resident regiments. Sabella food is better. Uh. You know during our time we flew commercial uh so, and we stayed at a horrible hotels that I can't believe. There's a hotel right now that's still out there in l A that we used to stay at. That was the Marriott, their port

Marriott is still out the Essentially, what would happen. You would come, we would play Seattle, uh, and then fly in the l A playing that playing on the next day, you get to l A, you get to the hotel and they tell you your room ain't red. It's like one of them, like, really, we're an NBA team a room. No, your room is not ready. It won't be ready until two o'clock till people check out. Whereas now you go to the Rich Carlton, you go to the Four Seasons,

your room is always ready. And the just the the lifestyle of the players lying on their own plane is different. Obviously the money is different. It's just so many things that are different about the game. But one thing you do realize that the game is one thing about It is about putting the ball in the hole and about and that will that probably would never change. Yeah, no

it won't. Man. I like to finish up just talking about these Celtics, uh, this year's team a little bit and just what from your vantage point, because I as I you know, obviously when it started to where it's come, unbelievable evolution, unbelievable improvement on this team. He may has just totally just grabbed ahold of the reins and really put his imprint on on the identity of this crew.

But I think one of the things that stood out for me, and you can chime in on this without a traditional PG moving forward, is this Can the Celtics get over the hump without having that type of traditional point guard? Yeah, I think they can, and I think the game has changed somebody to think about. Um, you know all the guys you talked about who are playing right now, and you you look at them, you're going the game is more about the defensive pressure if you're

talking about staying out on on the pain. Um, I look at the Celtic team right now. I'm excited because they're young. You've got Jalen Brown who was under contract, you got Tatum who was under contract, Marcus Uh, Rob Williams. So the the core unit of guys are better, but they're gonna have to add some more pieces, uh to compete. Now you say that, and you're looking at going there were only two games away from winning the World Championship.

They were essentially a quarter away from, you know, and maybe a couple of minutes away from being up three one against Golden State in the in the to say it was a fourth game here in Boston. So I don't think you're going to really you don't want to mess it up. But you look at the league. The league has always changing, It's always evolving world World, Kyrie Irving World, Real League end up at Uh, you know

that's gonna be That's gonna be a huge question. I heard people say this today and man, that would be fascinating. Somebody said, well, maybe Celtics might be able to get Kyle Kuzma uh from Washington, because I think what they need is another score. And one thing you saw with the Celtics, their bitch really kind of let them down in the in the finals, Jordan's pool consistently outscored the Celtic bitch. H Grant Williards who have been really who

have played really well, did not have a good finals. Uh. You know, Pritchard did not have a good finals. I think you look at Derek Quite who had a great game one and in the game too, but after that he kind of fell off the slide. So the Celtics need, uh need more. But you got one of the five best players in the league when you're talking about uh

Tatum uh and Brown is not far behind him. You have a great coach, you have a great system, you have a great organization, but you know you're always gonna have to tweak it a little bit and uh fine tune this thing if you're going to win the win the championship, because obviously you know it's not promise. I always tell the story about Dan Marino, the great football player, how he went to the Super Bowl, maybe it was second, first or second year planning in NFL, and uh, like

he never made it back again. And those things happen, and you know, maybe maybe those I don't think that's gonna happen to the Celtics, but I think they're going to happen. Have to tweak their their team some to find some other guys who want to be able to score the basketball. Thing I love about the Warriors just watching the way they moved the ball, man, you know that that was that was amazing to me to watched him come off to those picks and you know, the

ball never stopped. And with the Celtics, several times Jason Tatum was in a predicament where he had the ball and and that was one of that was the Achilles here Jason Tatum and they in in the playoffs this year. Broker record, Uh, he had a hundred turnovers. A hundred turnovers for one person. That's a lot of turnovers when you think about you know, you played. I think he played fourteen twenty four games. So you do the math. How much says that about turning over the game? Five? Two?

Over the game and you you're not gonna win, you know, at that pace if you turn over. So he has to get better at that position. Yeah, but I definitely feel like he's gonna he's definitely the top five player and he's gonna end up being, you know, one of these guys that we're gonna, you know, talk about and holding high esteem. As far as in the history of the league, I haven't seen a young guy. I love his pois. Um That's that's the one thing I've always said.

He's fearless to me. I mean, sure he played bad and he turned it over, but you know it wasn't for a lack of effort, or it wasn't for a lack of trying. Um Man, Max, this conversation has been awesome, my man. I truly appreciate you coming through. Um the book is out. If these walls could talk and you you're still on Celtics broadcast right the radio? Yeah, I've been. I've been broadcasting for the Selviic. This is my twenties

six year doing radio for the Selving. So I've been around a long time to see a lot of different things happened, and I think probably losing to the Goost and State Warriors and and to um uh Steph watching what he did and Draymond watching what he did probably was one of the most disappointing times. So I think I've been around. Yeah, well, brother, I appreciate you, and good luck moving forward. Everybody out there, go buy the book.

You won't to be disappointed, Ladies and gentlemen. Cedric Maxwell, I alright, my brother, thanks for having me