Dražen Petrović spent the last four seasons of his career in the NBA, playing for the Portland Trail Blazers and New Jersey Nets before his tragic accident. He earned All-NBA Third Team honors in his final season and made a significant impact on the league despite playing only four seasons. A fierce competitor and elite scorer, he averaged 22.3 points per game in his last season with the Nets. Former NBA champion Vernon Maxwell, who won two titles with the Houston Rockets, knew just how good Petrović was—he felt it firsthand. “He gave me nightmares,” Maxwell said on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. It wasn’t about Petrović’s physical attributes, though Maxwell remembers him being bigger. “He was bigger than me. I’m 6’4. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it before… I’d rather guard Black Jesus, Michael Jordan, than guard him. That’s how bad it was for me. He used to give me buckets. I was so frustrated—I couldn’t stop him,” Maxwell concluded.
Source: EuroHoops.net
Source: EuroHoops.net
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Eurohoops @Eurohoopsnet
Former #NBA champion with the Houston Rockets, Vernon Maxwell, recalled playing against the legendary Dražen Petrović.
“I’d rather guard Michael Jordan than him.”
eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/17… – 11:53 AM
Former #NBA champion with the Houston Rockets, Vernon Maxwell, recalled playing against the legendary Dražen Petrović.
“I’d rather guard Michael Jordan than him.”
eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/17… – 11:53 AM
Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
A new king of the #CelticsKillers.
Donovan Mitchell passed Michael Jordan last night for most career points per game (30.8) vs. the #Celtics. pic.x.com/7d9OXmZYRS – 10:07 AM
A new king of the #CelticsKillers.
Donovan Mitchell passed Michael Jordan last night for most career points per game (30.8) vs. the #Celtics. pic.x.com/7d9OXmZYRS – 10:07 AM
NBA on ESPN @ESPNNBA
Donovan Mitchell is 1 of 2 players to average 30+ points against the Celtics in the regular season. The other is Michael Jordan 🤯
📺 Cavs at Celtics | 7:30 PM ET | ESPN pic.x.com/IwQ7Syhw0G – 4:36 PM
Donovan Mitchell is 1 of 2 players to average 30+ points against the Celtics in the regular season. The other is Michael Jordan 🤯
📺 Cavs at Celtics | 7:30 PM ET | ESPN pic.x.com/IwQ7Syhw0G – 4:36 PM
More on this storyline
Stephen Jackson: We all make mistakes but I heard you made a mistake and accidentally hit Horace Grant over the head with a dumbbell trying to hit Gary Payton. Vernon Maxwell: I was trying to get GP upside his motherf*cking head with a dumbbell and hit my boy hard, that’s my boy… Jackson: And put him out two weeks! Maxwell: Yeah it was my fault. I bruised him pretty bad. That’s my boy. GP, he jumped on my young boy, hit my young boy Shammond Williams for no reason. -via YouTube / March 3, 2025
Vernon Maxwell on Drazen Petrovic: That motherf*cker gave me nightmares. Matt Barnes: What made him so tough, he was like 6-4, 6-5? Maxwell: Yeah he wass bigger than me. I’m 6’4. I mean I’ve never seen nothing like before… I’d rather guard Black Jesus, Michael Jordan than guard that motherf*cker, that’s how bad it was for me. This motherf*cker used to give me buckets. I used to be so frustrated, I couldn’t stop this motherf*cker. -via YouTube / March 3, 2025
While John Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards in NBA history, and with sound reasoning, there is a chunk of players who competed against Stock and labeled him a dirty player. One of them is Vernon Maxwell. “Mad Max” recently appeared on “All The Smoke” and was asked about his opinion of the legendary Utah Jazz floor general. While Vernon respected John, he couldn’t help but emphasize how dirty Stock was. “Stockton dirty as fu*k. One of the dirtiest players ever in NBA history..he is dirty as hell, he is a dog, he is a demon. Just don’t look like that,” Maxwell explained. -via Basketball Network / March 3, 2025
Carter’s No. 15 will be the seventh retired jersey to hang inside Barclays Center, along with the late Drazen Petrovic (3), Jason Kidd (5), John Williamson (23), Bill Melchionni (25), Julius Erving (32) and Buck Williams (52). “I remember obviously watching him play from the Toronto days, the Jersey days, then I was already in the NBA at that point after that,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “You don’t realize that he played for 22 years. He went from being like a top guy to having a different role and accepting that role and that means a lot….Honoring his career and putting his jersey up there, I think, is the least we can do and we’re excited to honor his legacy.” -via New York Post / January 25, 2025
Yet to those who didn’t live through the Dončić experience — the front office executives, coaches and scouts who would love nothing more than to get their hands on a player of his ilk — all these justifications for the trade simply don’t compute. This is the NBA, where ego management has always been part of the equation and choir boys are hard to come by. Talent isn’t the end-all-be-all, but Dončić’s type — the transcendent kind — is so rare that it should be given every opportunity to be maximized. That’s how it was for the likes of Allen Iverson, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Walton and Larry Bird — all elite players who had their warts. That list is undeniably long, with very few able to meet the sort of standard set by Bryant or his idol, Michael Jordan (who had off-court issues of his own). As one league source put it while discussing these sorts of players, “You manage.” -via New York Times / February 26, 2025
Harper isn’t about stats on a spreadsheet or YouTube highlights from the ‘90s. His criteria for greatness? What he’s witnessed firsthand. “I go with what I see with my own two eyes,” Harper shared confidently. “I didn’t get a chance to see the Michael Jordan era. I ain’t that old. I didn’t get to see the Michael Jordan era. I was able to see the LeBron James era.” -via ScoopB.com / February 26, 2025