The 1980s Celtics were a remarkable collection of talent.
Let’s list the Hall of Fame players who played on the Larry Bird Celtics.
·
Larry Bird (of course)
·
Pete Maravich, Dave Cowens and Tiny Archibald (at the end of
their careers)
·
Kevin McHale
·
Robert Parish
·
Dennis Johnson
·
Bill Walton
You know who’s not on the list of Hall of Famers but landed
on my Top 100? Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell.
Maxwell entered the NBA two years before Bird. He was the
No. 12 pick out of little UNC-Charlotte. He was a reserve his first year and a
budding star his second, averaging 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, while
leading the NBA in field goal percentage at 58.4%.
Of course, when Bird showed up in 1979-1980, everyone’s
roles changed. Maxwell settled in as the No. 3 option behind Bird and Parish and
thrived. Over the next two seasons, he had PERs of 19.0 and 17.6 and Win Shares
of 12.2 and 11 and solid +/- of 5.4 and 4.8 and VORPs of 5.1 and 4.7.
And he got better in the playoffs. His PER and Box +/- increased. The NBA Finals MVP for Bird’s first NBA title wasn’t Larry Bird. It was Cornbread Maxwell. After a slow start in the first two games, Maxwell torched Moses Malone’s Houston Rockets for 19, 24, 28 and 19 points to go along with 10, 14, 15 and five rebounds. He was 35 of 54 from the field in those games – 64.8%.
And he got better in the playoffs. His PER and Box +/- increased. The NBA Finals MVP for Bird’s first NBA title wasn’t Larry Bird. It was Cornbread Maxwell. After a slow start in the first two games, Maxwell torched Moses Malone’s Houston Rockets for 19, 24, 28 and 19 points to go along with 10, 14, 15 and five rebounds. He was 35 of 54 from the field in those games – 64.8%.
Maxwell’s best season in my system was the 1980-1981 NBA Finals
MVP season. In 1981-1982, McHale moved into the starting lineup to form the famous
Bird-McHale-Parish frontline and Maxwell became the sixth man.
Each season, Maxwell’s time and opportunities diminished
until he was traded to the Clippers for Bill Walton in the 1985-1986 season. Maxwell
was out of the league by age 33.
It’s his short career that kept him from creeping up even
higher in my Top 100. It’s his solid 1980-1981, 1981-1982 and 1982-1983 stretch
that got him onto the list.
|
Cedric
Mawell bio info
|
|
|
Career
|
1977-1988
|
|
Games
|
835
|
|
Points
|
12.5
|
|
Rebounds
|
6.3
|
|
Assists
|
2.2
|
|
FG Pct.
|
54.6%
|
|
All-Star Games
|
0
|
|
MVPs
|
0
|
|
NBA Titles
|
2
|
|
Playoff seasons
|
8
|
|
Playoff games
|
102
|
|
Points
|
10.9
|
|
Rebounds
|
5.4
|
|
Assists
|
1.9
|
|
FG Pct.
|
54.5%
|
|
Hall of Fame
|
|
|
Top 100
rankings
|
||
|
|
Points
|
Top 100 ranking
|
|
1-year
|
330.96
|
52nd
|
|
5-year
|
1,372.66
|
66th
|
|
10-year
|
2,072.73
|
98th
|
|
Career
|
2,162.23
|
Not in top 100
|
|
Cedric
Maxwell at his peak
|
|||
|
1980-1981
|
Maxwell
|
Top 5
|
Points
|
|
PER
|
17.6
|
25.02
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
11.0
|
13.53
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
4.8
|
5.92
|
|
|
VORP
|
4.7
|
5.88
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
38.1
|
50.34
|
75.69
|
|
Playoff PER
|
18.9
|
23.02
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
2.5
|
2.62
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
6.5
|
7.57
|
|
|
VORP
|
1.3
|
1.40
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
29.2
|
34.61
|
84.37
|
|
Reg. Season Win %
|
75.31
|
|
75.31
|
|
Playoff Win %
|
70.59
|
|
70.59
|
|
MVP Voting (75 points)
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
Finals MVP (25 points)
|
25
|
25
|
|
|
Total Score
|
|
|
330.96
|
|
Maxwell’s 10 greatest seasons
|
|
|
1980-1981
|
330.96
|
|
1979-1980
|
305.20
|
|
1981-1982
|
279.35
|
|
1983-1984
|
240.68
|
|
1984-1985
|
216.47
|
|
1982-1983
|
206.22
|
|
1986-1987
|
165.67
|
|
1978-1979
|
121.28
|
|
1987-1988
|
117.04
|
|
1985-1986
|
89.86
|
|
Career
winning percentage
|
|||
|
|
W
|
L
|
Pct.
|
|
Regular Season
|
500
|
335
|
59.88%
|
|
Playoffs
|
60
|
42
|
58.82%
|
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