Former NBA player Vernon Maxwell recalled the time when he nearly stabbed Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon during halftime of a game. On the “No Chill with Gilbert Arenas” podcast, Maxwell explained the incident. The Rockets were on the road against the SuperSonics, and the team had a horrible first half.
Maxwell complained to teammates that he wasn’t getting enough touches. At one point, the guard even spat on the court. After Olajuwon got wind of what occurred, in the locker room, he walked over to Maxwell and slapped him across the face in front of his teammates.
Vernon Maxwell almost stabbed Hakeem Olajuwon
During the podcast, Maxwell mentioned, “I said, ‘Goddamn, this motherf—ker slapped the s—t out of me.’ That motherf—ker hit me so hard, man, knocked me out the chair.”
“I jumped up, grabbed the chair, and throwed it at [that] motherf—ker, bust the glass in the locker room. Everybody running out. Police come in with the guns drawn, like ‘What the hell goin’ on in here?’”
“I was like, ‘Damn, they got the guns on me at a professional halftime,’ at a professional game.”
Additionally, Maxwell went on to say that he picked up a piece of glass and almost ‘stabbed the s—t out of’ Olajuwon. According to sports media personality Big Sarge, the piece of glass came from a broken beer bottle.
Interesting enough, the cops pretty much saved the day. Afterwards, the team went back out onto the court to start the second half. It was as if nothing had happened.
Maxwell and Olajuwon would later win two championships together on the Rockets. In the 1994 NBA Finals, the Rockets defeated the Knicks in seven games.
Olajuwon won Finals MVP. He averaged 26.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Then, the team swept the Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals. Olajuwon won his second Finals MVP. The center averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 points and 5.5 assists per game versus Orlando.
I don’t remember trying to stab anyone but if I did it was out of love. https://t.co/IvGN5LqyQS
— Vernon Maxwell (@VernonMaxwell11) January 2, 2022
Furthermore, this was not Maxwell’s only fight with a teammate in his NBA career. In 2000, the SuperSonics fined him and Gary Payton for a locker-room brawl that occurred on March 26.
During a road game against the Trail Blazers on February 6, 1995, Maxwell ran into the stands and punched an unruly fan. The league issued him a 10-game suspension and a $20,000 fine.
In 855 career games, Maxwell averaged 12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The guard was selected 47th overall by the Nuggets in the 1988 NBA Draft. Though, his draft rights were immediately traded to the Spurs.
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