Vernon Maxwell knew during his NBA playing days something wasn’t right with his mental health, and privately he was having those issues addressed.
But on the floor and in the Rockets locker room, the man known as Mad Max put up a front as if everything was okay. But it wasn’t.
Maxwell already knew his teammates thought something was a little off about him because of his sometimes erratic behavior, but he was “scared” to confirm it.
“They already thought that so they were going to really think I was crazy,” said Maxwell, who played for the Rockets from 1990-95 and was a key member of their two NBA championship teams. “I thought if I go to them and I tell them, `Man, I’m talking to somebody about my problems on my mental side;’ I was just too nervous to tell my teammates or tell anybody that.
“I was too scared to go do it. And like I said, I lost a lot. And I just want to try to break that narrative and say it’s okay.”
Today, Maxwell is determined to help break down those barriers and change the narrative by taking on athletes and mental health awareness as a cause. He has started the Vernon Maxwell Initiative and recently hosted the non-profit’s inaugural Mental Health Symposium here in Houston.
The symposium included a panel discussion with several speakers, including former NBA star Metta World Peace, aka Ron Artest, as one of the panelists. The two-day event also included a golf tournament.
After initially being reluctant to step out there, Maxwell decided that lending his voice and energy to the important discussions around mental health was necessary and could be helpful to many.
“It’s a blessing to be able to do this,” Maxwell said to The Defender. “When my man was telling me to do this and get involved, at first I was like, I don’t know if I want to be talking about how crazy I am.
“But then I broke down the wall and I thought I could help out. If I can help out one or two people, it will be a blessing to me. So to be able to show awareness and let people know it’s okay. If a guy like me, Big Bad Max, can say he needs help then you can, too.”
During the panel discussions, the six panelists discussed the need for more mental health awareness not just among athletes but the Black community as whole. There have been strides made in recent years to provide people a safe space to discuss mental health.
Both Maxwell and Metta World Peace are glad for the gains but would like to see even more.
“It’s very important that we bring it to life and let people know we are here,” said Metta World Peace, who was one of the first athletes to bring his psychiatrist on national television to discuss his mental issues. “We are going to get back to this game, but we are not going to focus on this game right now.
“Years later, I’m getting an overwhelming amount of requests to talk about mental health which is cool. It’s a little much but it’s cool.”
Maxwell’s biggest message that he wants out there is that it’s okay to not be okay, and to seek help. He wants athletes to understand this, too.
“We sometimes think we don’t need to be worrying about what people think about us if we do go and try to get help,” Maxwell said. “I just want people to know if I’m doing it, so can you. And the Black community itself, we kind of sweep it under the rug and never talk about it. But I think it’s better for us to talk about it and get it out.”
Maxwell and Metta World Peace opened up about their bouts with mental health during their days. It was, of course, taboo back then. The climate, however, has changed considerably with some players now openly discussing their bouts with mental health without fear of reprisal.
“I was a mental health case,” said Maxwell, who said he blew between $300,000 to $500,000 per year at points during his playing career because of mental issues. “I look back on it and I think about the things that I did and the people that I affected. Mine was probably anxiety, but that’s really the reason I want to talk about it and the reason why I’m here tonight and the reason why I just want to be one of the guys out here talking about this.”
Metta World Peace said he didn’t start to address his mental health issues until behavior began to threaten his basketball career. He knew at that point he had to get some help.
“Basketball was kind of everything to me,” he said. “I was getting certain [negative] things out of it because of some things that were self-inflicted. So, I said ‘I want to at least finish my career off.’ It turned into sports therapy because most of my issues happened on the court because of the emotions involved.”
Now both Metta World Peace and Maxwell seem committed to helping others deal with their mental health. Maxwell wants people in need to know there are safe places to go for free help like church during the week.
“You can have a bridge through the week where somebody can be able to call somebody, not just on Sunday when you go to church. Then you don’t go again until next Sunday. You’ve got that whole week where you can still make mistakes. I just want to be able to bridge the gap where people can call somebody anytime and talk about it if they need to,” added Maxwell.
