Cedric Bryan Maxwell (born November 21, 1955) is an American retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player now in

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA), and played a key role in two championships with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

. After a college career in which he led the

UNC Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

49ers to an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1977, he was drafted by the

. After coming off the bench his rookie year, he was elevated to a starting

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

position for the 1978–1979 season, a disappointing 29–53 team on which Maxwell was the lone bright spot. The following year,

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

joined the Celtics, and the team started a resurgence that saw them become one of the dominant teams of the 1980s. Maxwell and Bird were joined in the 1980–1981 season by starting center

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,6 ...

and rookie forward Kevin McHale, a year in which the team won the NBA championship and Maxwell was named Finals MVP. Maxwell and McHale would compete for the starting forward position over the next several seasons, with McHale winning the starting job and Maxwell being traded to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

just prior to the 1985–1986 season. Maxwell would play for a season and a half for the Clippers, before being traded midway through the 1986–1987 season to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Divisio ...

, where he would finish out his career before retiring after the 1987–1988 season with over 10,000 points scored over his career. Since retiring as a player, he briefly coached the Long Island Surf of the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

before starting his career as a radio broadcaster, serving as the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and th ...

for Celtics radio broadcasts since 2001. His jersey number 31 was retired by the Celtics in 2003.

College career

Maxwell was a star forward/ center for the UNC Charlotte 49ers. Among the 49ers, Maxwell ranks 6th all-time in points scored and his No. 33 jersey was retired in 1977, when he led

to the NCAA Final Four. Upon completion of his career at Charlotte, Maxwell was the 12th overall pick in the

1977 NBA draft The 1977 NBA draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1977, before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

. He was drafted by the

, where he played for eight of his eleven seasons. During his time at UNC Charlotte, he was initiated in

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty ad ...

fraternity via the Epsilon Zeta chapter.

Professional career

Maxwell made an impact in his second season with the Celtics. While

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

was mired in an otherwise awful

1978–79 NBA season The 1978–79 NBA season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Seattle SuperSonics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, a rematch of the previ ...

, as they awaited

's decision to sign with the franchise, the second-year power forward averaged 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. The Celtics would go just 29–53 on the year, but the young Maxwell's potential, along with the promising addition of Bird and others, set the stage for what would become an NBA dynasty. Maxwell was best known for his moves near or beneath the basket. He was very effective in the low post, faking defenders into the air, drawing contact, then making high percentage shots, and sometimes drawing a foul, using either his jump-hook close to the basket or going up against the glass. It was rare that Maxwell took an outside jump shot, especially when Celtic teammates like Bird or Tiny Archibald were on the floor. This helped the Celtics run a balanced offense with a formidable inside game that was hard for most teams to defend. Maxwell, in addition to being a dangerous scorer and a colorful character, was a clutch performer in the playoffs. Maxwell was named MVP of the

1981 NBA Finals The 1981 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1980–81 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It pitted the 62–20 Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics a ...

. Three years later, Maxwell scored 24 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in the decisive game-seven victory during the

1984 NBA Finals The 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Weste ...

. Before the game, he told his teammates to "climb on my back, boys." Maxwell's colorful side was also on display in the series as he mocked second-year Laker forward

James Worthy James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American sports commentator, television host, analyst, and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lake ...

's inability to make free throws during overtime of game 4 by walking across the lane between free throws with his hands around his own neck, suggesting Worthy's choking under pressure. Maxwell also made fun of

Kurt Rambis Darrell Kurt Rambis (born February 25, 1958) is a Greek-American former professional basketball player and coach who is a senior basketball adviser for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he won fo ...

prior to Game 4 of the 1984 Finals, wearing Rambis's trademark glasses and inadvertently missing a long range shot in front of loyal Rambis fans known as the Rambis Youth. The following season, after an injury, Maxwell lost his starting role to Kevin McHale, who had spent two seasons coming off the bench and was in the process of winning his second consecutive Sixth Man of the Year. Maxwell was traded, with a draft pick, on September 6, 1985, to the

for center

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive nation ...

. Maxwell spent a season and a half with the Clippers before being dealt to the

in January, 1987, for two draft picks. He finally retired after the

1987–88 NBA season The 1987–88 NBA season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight Championship, beating the Detroit Pistons in seven hard-fought games in the NBA Final ...

, having scored 10,465 points and pulled down 5,261 rebounds over the course of 11 seasons, which averages over the course of his career to 12.5 points and 6.3 rebounds a game.

Career after the NBA

Maxwell was the 22nd former Celtic to have his jersey (number 31) retired by the Celtics on December 15, 2003. He is now a radio broadcaster for

WBZ-FM WBZ-FM (98.5 FM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, WBZ-FM is the Boston affiliate for Fox Sports Radio; th ...

in Boston, where he has announced Boston Celtics games with Sean Grande since 2001 and lives in Weston,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He was also a frequent co-host on WEEI's sports talk radio shows, such as '' The Big Show'' with former Celtics TV announcer Glenn Ordway, before Ordway parted with the station. He made guest appearances with the successor program ''Salk & Holley''. In June 2013, Grande and Maxwell, better known in Boston as Grande and Max, began co-hosting a new show, ''Celtics Summer Cooler'', a weekly offseason update on the Celtics. Maxwell came under fire for comments he made on the air during a game in 2007. Unhappy with the officiating of referee Violet Palmer, he told listeners that Palmer should "go back to the kitchen" and "make me some bacon and eggs." Maxwell apologized during a subsequent broadcast. On the March 16, 2010 ''Primetime with The Packman'' radio show (WFNZ-AM) originating out of Charlotte, Cedric Maxwell stated he was open to the coaching position at Charlotte. He went on to say he was hoping the school would at least offer him an interview.

Nickname

Maxwell received the nickname "Cornbread" from his college teammate

Melvin Watkins Melvin Lenzo Watkins (born November 15, 1954) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has also been the associate head coach at the University of Missouri. He served as interim head coach during the end of the 2006 season, b ...

after the pair went to see the movie '' Cornbread, Earl and Me'',"Cornbread, Earl, and Me"
(1975) at IMDB in which a 12-year-old boy is traumatized by the murder of his friend, a star basketball player. Watkins thought that Maxwell looked like the title character (played by

Jamaal Wilkes Jamaal Abdul-Lateef (born Jackson Keith Wilkes; May 2, 1953), better known as Jamaal Wilkes, is an American former basketball player who was a small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star, he won four NBA ...

) and so began calling him ''Cornbread''. Since Maxwell did not like the nickname, it did not gain widespread use until Maxwell was named MVP of the NIT tournament in 1976, when, according to Watkins, "The New York media picked up on he nickname"

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , , , 16.8 , , .538 , , , , .752 , , 5.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , , , 37.1 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .584* , , , , .802 , , 9.9 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.9 , , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 34.3 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .609* , , , , .787 , , 8.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 33.7 , , .588 , , .000 , , .782 , , 6.5 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left, , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 73 , , 33.2 , , .548 , , .000 , , .747 , , 6.4 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left, , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 71 , , 28.5 , , .499 , , .000 , , .812 , , 5.3 , , 2.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 78 , , 31.3 , , .532 , , .167 , , .753 , , 5.8 , , 2.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 57 , , 51 , , 26.2 , , .533 , , .000 , , .831 , , 4.2 , , 1.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, 76 , , 72 , , 32.3 , , .475 , , .000 , , .795 , , 8.2 , , 2.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, 81 , , 31 , , 24.3 , , .530 , , .000 , , .775 , , 5.4 , , 2.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , 0 , , 11.9 , , .468 , , .000 , , .769 , , 2.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 3.8 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 835 , , 537 , , 28.5 , , .546 , , .053 , , .784 , , 6.3 , , 2.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 12.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9, , , , 35.6, , .634, , , , .754, , 10.0, , 2.1, , 0.6, , 1.1, , 18.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 17, , , , 35.2, , .580, , , , .818, , 7.4, , 2.7, , 0.7, , 0.9, , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 12, , , , 32.1, , .517, , , , .714, , 7.3, , 2.2, , 1.5, , 0.9, , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 7, , , , 35.1, , .527, , , , .842, , 7.3, , 3.3, , 0.6, , 0.6, , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 23, , , , 32.7, , .503, , .000, , .779, , 5.2, , 2.4, , 1.0, , 0.3, , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 20, , 0, , 11.9, , .488, , , , .791, , 2.4, , 0.4, , 0.5, , 0.1, , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 10, , 0, , 17.7, , .529, , .000, , .743, , 3.3, , 1.7, , 0.4, , 0.0, , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 0, , 3.8, , .500, , , , , , 0.3, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.5 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 102 , , 0 , , 26.8 , , .545 , , .000 , , .777 , , 5.4 , , 1.9 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 10.9

References

External links

nba.com historical playerfile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Cedric 1955 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American radio sports announcers Basketball coaches from North Carolina Basketball players from North Carolina Boston Celtics announcers Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Charlotte 49ers men's basketball players Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Clippers players National Basketball Association players with retired numbers People from Kinston, North Carolina Power forwards (basketball) People from Weston, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts