The Cedric Maxwell Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Thursday, June 12th, 2002
You were born in Kinston, North Carolina, Monday,
November 21, 1955. Although your affiliation with the
Celtics keeps you in the Boston area, you remain a
southerner by heart. Please tell me a little about
growing up in Kinston.
I had a good childhood. My father was a military man
and my mother was a traditional, stay-at-home spouse who
raised three children. We lived in Kinston until I was
six, at which point my father’s military obligation took
us to Hawaii. North Carolina was a segregated situation
in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, and I vividly remember
when there were “white” and “colored” water fountains
and bathrooms.
I’m glad that you mentioned your time spent in Hawaii.
That must have been quite a cultural change for you.
I went to public school when we lived in Hawaii, which
encompassed the first three years of my grade school
education. In many ways I felt very isolated, but in
other ways it was a culturally liberating experience
that helped mold the rest of my life.
Isolated in what way?
Isolated in the sense that we never left the island
during my father’s stay, which meant that we didn’t get
to see our grandparents for three years. That, and just
being so far from the mainland made me feel cut off from
the rest of the world.
Hawaii was a great environment and a great learning experience as well, so it’s really hard for me to complain. There was never a need to cope. I have many positive memories surrounding that period in my life. I remember my mother taking us to the beach on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and how much fun we had on those trips together as a family. I put great value on the time we spent in Hawaii.
Culturally, we were around a lot of Asian kids and native Hawaiians. The diversity was quite a contrast from North Carolina in the late ‘50s, and I welcomed the change after coming from such a segregated situation. From a growth standpoint, being around other types of people at such a young age was very important.
While UNC-Charlotte’s basketball program has enjoyed
recent success, qualifying for the NCAA tournament six
of the last nine years, you are perhaps most responsible
for putting the school on the basketball map. What led
you to play your college ball at UNC-Charlotte?
We moved back to Kinston, which is where I played my
high school basketball. I was something of a
late-bloomer, getting cut from the team as a junior
before finally finding success on the court during my
senior season. I grew from 6’-3 ½” to 6’-7 ½” in the
span of a year, which also helped. It was a wonderful
time, and we were a very good team. We won the
championship and from there I decided to attend
UNC-Charlotte. By that time I was ready to leave home,
and the school was far enough away to where I could
enjoy my independence. It was also close enough that I
could get home when I needed to, which was a big plus.
UNC-Charlotte is also a good school with a good
reputation. I’m very happy that I decided to go there.
The 1976 NIT Tournament was also known to many as
“Cornbread’s Garden Party”. UNC-Charlotte reached the
finals against Kentucky and you were named the
tournament’s Most Valuable Player. What do you remember
most about that tournament, and how special was it to be
recognized in such a way?
Our run through the tournament stands out. Beating NC
State and Oregon – a lot of people don’t know this, but
Oregon was coached by Dick Harter, who is now the
assistant coach and defensive guru for the Celtics. We
also beat a very good San Francisco team with Bill
Cartwright at center. We reached the championship game
before losing to Kentucky, 71-67, which was a tough loss
to a very good team. Kentucky was coached by Joe B.
Hall that season. Rick Robey was on that team, and he
would later be my teammate with the Celtics.
Winning the MVP award showed people that I was good enough to play with the best in the country. That’s what meant the most to me about receiving such an honor. There weren’t many who got to see UNC-Charlotte play during the regular season, so we weren’t all that well-known coming into the NIT. We got on a roll and beat some very good teams, so it was very satisfying to run. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the championship.
