The Houston Rockets quietly waived controversial guard Vernon Maxwell in late June, the day before an NBA lockout of players ended any club-player dealings, the Houston Chronicle reported today.
The newspaper said the Rockets cut the 29-year-old on June 30, two months after he left the club before Game 2 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Utah Jazz, complaining of a hamstring injury.After Maxwell left the Rockets on April 30, the club granted him a leave of absence for personal reasons.
In the May 23 edition of the Chronicle, Maxwell admitted his supposed hamstring injury was a front for his frustration over having to yield playing time to Clyde Drexler, acquired on Feb. 14 from Portland.
"I never had any personal problems. That was just something I made up," said Maxwell, who was playing in a charity golf tournament at the time. "The deal was (that) I wasn't playing. That was it. I couldn't take it."
The Rockets, who went on to win their second straight NBA championship, are obligated to pay Maxwell $1.8 million for the final year of his contract, said the team's legal counsel, Michael Goldberg, barring some type of legal action that might absolve it of the obligation.