Rockets legend addresses asinine take on back-to-back championships

The discourse about NBA championships can be disingenuous. There's too much discussion about whether NBA titles "count". For our money, every championship counts.

In the 1993-94 and 1994-95 NBA seasons, the Houston Rockets won back-to-back NBA titles. Some would prefer to hold that those championships "don't count". Michael Jordan was taking a hiatus, so they'd argue that the Rockets strictly benefited from his absence.

One former Rockets guard is vehemently opposed to those takes.

"Mad Max" Vernon Maxwell was never known for holding back. He was a colorful personality during his tenure with the Rockets, but he was also an invaluable part of their rotation.

If you tell him that the back-to-back title runs he was a part of didn't count, he's not going to stand for it.

Rockets legend pushes back on outlandish take

Recently, Maxwell was on GIlbert Arenas' podcast where he discussed this issue.

We know what you're thinking. Arenas has developed his own reputation for hot-take artistry. Let's avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Regardless of the venue, Maxwell is making solid points here.

"I mean, you've got to understand, we got Hakeem Olajuwon down there. They got Bill Cartwright. ... All I used to do is funnel Mike down to Olajuwon"
-Vernon Maxwell

That's a solid argument. The Rockets were built to contain Jordan more than the Bulls were able to contain Olajuwon. We don't mean to take anything from the Bulls - they may be the best team in NBA history. Would the Rockets have vanquished them at full strength?

We'll never know

Maxwell dispels revisionist history

In 1993-94, Jordan was playing baseball. It's a testament to his other-worldly athletic ability that he was able to play professionally, but - shockingly enough - he was better at basketball.

Jordan rejoined the Bulls in 1994-95. He simply wasn't able to carry them to the Finals to meet the Rockets. Instead, the Bulls fell to Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway's Orlando Magic squad in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Wrestling legend Ric Flair once said that to "be the man, you have to beat the man". The Rockets beat the men who beat the men. They toppled Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway in the NBA Finals:

How could that not count?

Every NBA season is fought on its own terms. Teams can't beat players who aren't playing. The Rockets overcame fierce competition during both of their championship seasons, and nobody can take that away from them:

Even if they tried, Mad Max won't let them.