Vernon Maxwell Is A Black Person Who Does Not Like Utah

He says he experienced racism

He played basketball against the Utah Jazz

The headline of an article in the Salt Lake Tribune reads: “Ex-NBA player Vernon Maxwell suggests people exchange hate of Asians for hate of Utah.” Maxwell has been known for his dislike of Utah since playing against the Utah Jazz NBA basketball team. His experiences with Utah fans while playing basketball in Utah apparently were not good.

Maxwell is a former guard for the Houston Rockets. He had the nickname of “Mad Max” because of his outbursts of rage during basketball games. He would rant against opponents, referees, and fans if they annoyed him.

He has become known in some circles for taking out his vitriol on the State of Utah. It seems to be his only target. He once wrote on Twitter: “I’d like 2 apologize Jazz fans that were offended by my tweets. If I knew u guys had internet in Utah, I would’ve never made those tweets.”

Maxwell regularly makes derogatory jokes or comments about Utah. He made a tweet after the shootings in Atlanta that killed eight people, including six Asian women. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have escalated since the COVID pandemic. Maxwell had tweeted telling people to “leave our Asian brothers and sisters alone.”

Then Maxwell put out another tweet with a different tone. It read: “Stop the hate on Asians, continue to hate Utah instead.” The tweet had a smiley face emoji after the comment.

The writer of the article wrote: “The suggestion that people substitute one kind of hate for another — even facetiously — seems counterproductive at best and potentially dangerous at worst.”

Maxwell has said about Utah, “You farm animals from Utah like to say y’all livin’ rent-free in my head & it’s true. Each time I played there for 13 seasons I was insulted, called racial slurs, got spat on. Threaten my kids' lives. So yea rent-free. It’s the worst place in the world to play at.”

He is giving that perspective as a Black athlete who played basketball where the fans are predominantly white in a conservative state. The Utah Jazz basketball team has Black players, and the team management has stated that they do not have tolerance for racism. They cannot always control the fans.

Maxwell also said: “A few nice people reached out 2me 2apologize on behalf of Utah 4 their treatment of visiting NBA players & a bunch weren’t so nice. I wasn’t the model citizen back then & there R things I could’ve done better but we live & learn. Unfortunately, not much has changed with Jazz fans.”

Some players may deserve to be taunted for their actions, but they should not be hated and ridiculed for their skin color. Racism should not be a part of the NBA.

As a minority who was born and raised in Utah, I have lived in other areas as well. I have now returned to live in Salt Lake City. I have attended Jazz games, but I don’t recall ever being there when Maxwell and his team played the Jazz.

There are a lot of wonderful people in Utah who are not racist and hateful. Unfortunately, Utah has gotten a terrible reputation with some because of the people who do not treat others with respect. NBA fans should be better than that, including in Utah.

Racism toward opposing NBA players is inexcusable. Players should not have to endure hate because they are Black.

[Source: Salt Lake Tribune, www.sltrib.com]