3 worst players to ever win NBA Finals MVP
By Phil Watson
3. Cedric Maxwell, 1981 Boston Celtics
Cedric Maxwell had a very good NBA Finals for the Boston Celtics in 1981, when they beat the 40-42 Houston Rockets in six games in a series more well known as Larry Bird's first championship.
Maxwell averaged 17.7 points and 9,5 rebounds in the series, also blocking six shots and shooting 56.8% from the floor. But he was Boston's leading scorer in the series, as Bird was limited to just 15.3 points a night on 41.9% shooting by a Houston defense that focused on limiting his impact.
But Maxwell is the only NBA Finals MVP to never made an All-Star Game, an All-Defensive Team or earn All-NBA honors.
Nicknamed Cornbread, Maxwell came out of Kinston (North Carolina) High School to a fledgling program at Charlotte (then known as UNC Charlotte). As a junior, he was named Most Valuable Player of the NIT after leading the 49ers to the championship game, where they lost to Kentucky. The following year, Maxwell's Charlotte team upset Michigan in the Mideast Regional Final before losing to eventual national champion Marquette on a last-second dunk by Jerome Whitehead.
The 12th overall pick by the Celtics in 1977, Maxwell was a deceptively powerful inside scorer and twice led the NBA in field-goal percentage, seldom shooting anywhere but deep in the paint.
After eight seasons in Boston, Maxwell was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in the deal that brought former NBA Finals MVP Bill Walton to the Celtics and finished out his career with the Rockets. In 11 seasons, he averaged 12.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 835 games.