Vernon Maxwell played in the NBA from 1988 to 2001, facing some of the greatest shooting guards of all time during his career. One would imagine that six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan would be his toughest matchup from that era, but surprisingly, he gave that nod to Drazen Petrovic.
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The late Croatian guard was one of the most highly anticipated imports from Eastern Europe in the 1980s and was drafted in 1986 by the Train Blazers.
Due to the tensions between the United States and the Soviet bloc, however, Petrovic would have to wait until the 1989-90 season to make his NBA debut.
That was just around the time when Maxwell joined the league, giving him a first-hand look at the Olympic silver medalist’s skill set.
“I’m trying to tell you that motherf**ker gave me nightmares… He come off that motherf**ker shooting that s**t, I mean, never seen nothing like it before,” Vernon claimed.
“I’d rather guard motherf**king Black Jesus, Michael Jordan, than guard that motherf**ker. That’s how bad it was for me,” he continued, highlighting just how shifty Petrovic used to be.
The European guard’s first season was thwarted by the Trail Blazers, who played him as a spot-up shooter and gave him less than 8 minutes of action per game.
That led Petrovic to force a trade in his sophomore year, and it’s probably during his ensuing stint with the Brooklyn Nets that Drazen gave Maxwell ‘nightmares.’
“You know how them motherf**kers in Europe, they got all that triple threat s**t. He had that s**t down to a T…” Maxwell added, praising Petrovic’s fundamentals. “Oh my goodness, he was killing my a** with that. I was just jumping all over everywhere when he’d do that s**t to me.”
Maxwell was one of the top defenders at his position, making his experience with Drazen all the more telling. Petrovic remains one of the biggest ‘What Ifs’ in league history. After his NBA debut was delayed by 3 years, the Croatian guard would only get to play 4 seasons of NBA basketball.
Unfortunately, in 1993, Drazen passed away after a car accident in Germany. Yet, his bucket getting abilities and incredible resume across Europe and North America earned Petrovic a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.
Vernon Maxwell didn’t take Michael Jordan lightly either
Though he admitted that Drazen was a tougher matchup for him than His Airness, Maxwell had his fair share of nightmares trying to defend Jordan, too. Or at least, he would if the thought of defending MJ didn’t keep him up at night.
During an appearance on Theo Pinson’s podcast last year, Mad Max revealed the sheer anxiety he felt before facing off against Jordan for the first time.
“No sleep the night before because I was like anxious and nervous and ready, you know, I was playing against the best player ever and you can get embarrassed cuz this motherfu**er put his feet on your throat and don’t take it off. He is going to try to embarrass your a**,” the two-time NBA champion shared.
His debut against Black Jesus fared rather well. He managed to limit Jordan to just 23 points on 45% shooting from the field. Considering that he was on no sleep, that performance is a testament to Maxwell’s defensive grit.
Unfortunately, Mad Max would have to take on the MJ matchup 16 more times during his career, with Mike dropping 48 points on his head in 1996.
