Cedric Maxwell played eight seasons for the Celtics, from 1977-85. He was MVP of the NBA Finals in 1981, and in ’84 he famously told teammates to “hop on my back” before leading the Celtics to a Game 7 victory against the Lakers.
Maxwell’s No. 31 hangs in the Garden rafters, alongside the numbers of Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and the other Green legends. Today he serves as a color commentator on Celtic radio broadcasts.
And in all those seasons with the Celtics, Maxwell was never on the parquet floor standing at attention when the national anthem was played.
Max’s absence was sometimes perceived as a protest. He says it was not.
“The only reason I walked out during the national anthem — wasn’t in protest of the flag — I love America more than anybody,’’ Maxwell said Wednesday. “People would ask me about it.
“It was because I was nervous, and when the national anthem was played, I was fidgety. I did not want to offend anybody by moving around, shuffling my feet, doing what I was doing, so I just took myself out of that environment out of respect to the flag.
“I still do it now. I normally leave before the national anthem is played.’’
This is a topic today because San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has made a stand that he will sit during the playing of the national anthem before games. Kaepernick sat out the anthem at San Francisco’s game last Friday, then explained that he was motivated by racial injustice and police brutality in America. He has pledged to do the same Thursday night when the Niners play at San Diego. His position has created a national debate.
Maxwell, a 60-year-old black man from Kinston, N.C., has many thoughts on this issue.
“This is why we are in America,’’ started Maxwell. “Colin Kaepernick has a right to do exactly what he is doing. If you ask me about ‘Black Lives Matter,’ I will say that all lives matter.
“I am as African-American as can be. But at the same time, my father almost died for the rights that Colin Kaepernick is using right now. Kaepernick just needs to think about some of the other things that matter, too.
“But being here in America has given him that God-given right to make that particular statement at this particular time.
“My father was a gunnery sergeant in the US Marines. Manny Maxwell from Southern Georgia. He was shot and wounded in Korea and almost killed in Vietnam. It was a grave situation and he still has shrapnel in his body. It was so close to his heart that they couldn’t take it out.
“This happened to him while he was fighting for the very rights that Colin Kaepernick is demonstrating.
“As for Kaepernick, I am torn between a rock and a hard place because of my father and his protest. I believe that what makes America greater than any other country is the fact that you have the right to do whatever you want without hitting anybody. You can do a silent protest in your own way, and regardless of what people think about you, you have the right to do it.
“People sometimes should embrace those people more because they are demonstrating the things that people like my father fought for.’’
Manny Maxwell is 90 years old and just had a driver’s license renewed. What would he think of Kaepernick’s protest?
“He’d be pissed,’’ said Max. “He would be upset. But sometimes my dad will think like I’m thinking right now and realize that those are the freedoms and the liberties that he fought for. Like it or not like it, Colin has a right to do what he is doing.
“I’m from another era. And black people at that time were not given those very rights that Colin Kaepernick is using right now. In the 1950s in the South, those rights were not there. Separate but equal. We couldn’t go to a bathroom. Colored or white. This is the younger generation now and all they see is what’s in front of them.
“Here’s one last thought. Think about Muhammad Ali. In his time, he was vilified because he would not go to war. Then he ends up being the most profound and greatest athlete of all time because of what he did in and outside the ring. Defying the war.
“He winds up being the guy who lit the torch at the Olympics for our country. Now we have Colin Kaepernick sitting down and he’s become the villain. Does that make any sense?’’