Fansided

The NBA sidekick Hall of Fame

By Bryan Harvey

Lakers' (l to r) Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant and Shannon Brown during the game. LA Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on Apr. 12, 2011. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Lakers' (l to r) Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant and Shannon Brown during the game. LA Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on Apr. 12, 2011. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) /
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Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images /

Cedric Maxwell

The Boston Celtics won the 1981 NBA championship, but the Finals MVP was not named Larry Bird. He wasn’t named Kevin McHale or Robert Parish. He wasn’t named Danny Ainge or Dennis Johnson either.

He never made an All-Star game. He just played. He led the league in true shooting percentage for two consecutive years. He is ranked third for his career in the category. He finished top 20 in win shares in four different seasons. His name is Cedric Maxwell.

In September of 1985, just months after losing in the Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers, he would be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Bill Walton. Walton would experience a renaissance, and Boston would reclaim the title at the end of the 1985-86 season. Maxwell would disappear into Clipper oblivion, even as his production never really waned, but he should be remembered for a variety of reasons, including what he did when Kevin McHale was a but a lowly rookie averaging no more than 20 minutes per game.

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