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“Vernon Maxwell could have handled Black Jesus,” Robert Horry said. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, the league saw a parade of so-called “MJ-stoppers,” but most got cooked by His Airness, except for a select few, like Gary Payton and Vernon “Mad Max” Maxwell. Jordan respected Maxwell’s chaos—the trash talk, the no-back-down attitude, and the physical altercations. They went at it like it was personal. So when the Rockets won it all in 1995, Maxwell wasn’t handing out flowers—not to the Bulls, and definitely not to Michael Jordan, who hadn’t played a full season.
And the beef wasn’t just talk—Maxwell backed it up on the court. With him holding it down as Houston’s starting shooting guard, the Rockets actually had the Bulls’ number during Chicago’s first three-peat run. According to Rockets Wire, Houston went 5-1 against MJ’s squad from 1991 to 1993—and yep, it was usually Maxwell who drew the impossible assignment of guarding Michael Jordan. Then came the 1993-94 season, when MJ shocked the world by stepping away to chase his father’s baseball dream. But by the time he returned for the 1995 playoffs, the Rockets were already locked in.
On a recent episode of All the Smoke, the 59-year-old cleared the air around the talk that the Rockets won in ’95 because MJ was absent the prior season. He said, “He was there the second year. When he took off 45 and put on 23, Shaq and them beat him. Stop saying he wasn’t in basketball shape. But to my defense now, I gotta talk truth now. Y’all know Max is gonna tell the goddamn truth. Now I was kicked out. Well, I left that squad that year, but goddamn it, nah, s—.”
Mad Max keeps it real about Michael Jordan’s hiatus in the 90s 
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When the Rockets lifted back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, plenty of folks stamped an invisible asterisk next to those wins. But that narrative doesn’t quite hold. In 1995, Jordan was back. Sure, he wore No. 45 instead of 23, and yes, he had just returned from his baseball sabbatical, but he still played like MJ. In that playoff run, he averaged 31.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists—numbers that screamed MVP. The Bulls fell to a rising Orlando Magic squad led by Shaquille O’Neal, while the Rockets, despite a modest 47-35 regular season, caught fire and stormed through the playoffs, eventually sweeping that same Magic team in the Finals.
Offensively, Max averaged 18.3 points on 51.3% shooting versus the Bulls, way above his usual numbers for those 3 seasons (1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93) as a whole, as per Rockets Wire. But by the time Houston won it all in 1995, Maxwell was no longer on the roster. He had been suspended for punching a fan in Portland and later moved on to Philadelphia. Plus, Clyde Drexler’s arrival had cut into his minutes.
Even Kenny Smith, who ran point guard for that legendary Rockets squad, shut down the revisionist history in an interview with The Houston Chronicle. “You can’t erase history,” Smith said. “Everyone always says, ‘Well, Michael was out.’ No, he wasn’t — he was wearing No. 45 (in 1995). And everyone is saying, ‘Oh, he was rusty.’ No one was saying he was rusty when he had 55 points [against the Knicks] at Madison Square Garden that same year.” So while some still wonder what could’ve happened if MJ had never stepped away, the Rockets earned their rings—and they’re not apologizing for it.
Could Michael Jordan have led the team to 8 wins?
Michael Jordan’s legacy is built on six NBA titles—but even he doesn’t think it could’ve been eight. Despite what fans love to debate, MJ straight-up said it himself back in 1998: “People say if I hadn’t played baseball for a year and a half, we would be going for our eighth championship in a row. But I don’t think so.” Why? For Jordan, the team vibe after their first three-peat just wasn’t the same. “After our three-peat, the atmosphere on the team wasn’t the same,” he told ESPN. And if there’s one thing MJ knew how to read better than a defense, it was a locker room.
Unknown Date; Orlando, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Chicago Bulls guard (23) Michael Jordan during a game against the Orlando Magic at the Orlando Arena during the 1990-91 season. Mandatory Credit: Photo By USA TODAY Sports (c) Copyright 1991 USA TODAY Sports
Let’s rewind to 1994. The Bulls had just lost Horace Grant, and that one missing piece turned out to be a big deal. Without him, Chicago couldn’t get past a young Shaq and the hungry Orlando Magic. It wasn’t until they brought in Dennis Rodman that things turned around. Rodman didn’t light up the scoreboard, but yeah, he made life miserable for opponents. That edge helped Phil Jackson steer the Bulls to another three-peat in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
But even with all that success, MJ kept it honest. “I don’t think this is our best Bulls team,” he admitted. “Our first three title teams were more balanced, younger, more agile. And the desire was a lot stronger. It’s strong now, but back then we had a lot of guys who had never won anything. Now it’s easy for complacency to set in. It’s human nature. It happened to me.”
And that kind of honesty is what separated Jordan, not just as a player, but as a leader. Even at the top, he cared more about chemistry than hype. “On this team we love each other,” he said. “No jealousies, no animosities, no nothing… Everybody gets along with everybody, everybody can go out with everybody. And we’re not afraid to criticize each other.” That right there? Championship DNA. Not just in talent, but in trust.
The post Haunted by Michael Jordan’s Decision, Rockets’ Legend Shuts Down Critics With Bold Claims appeared first on EssentiallySports.
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