Gainesville, Florida: Vernon Maxwell, a former American professional basketball player, almost divorced after celebrating the Houston Rockets 1994 championship for two weeks.
He has had a colorful personal life but has not provided much detailed information about his wife, Rasharita Rochell Maxwell, who filed for divorce in December 1999.
Highlights
- Vernon Maxwell and Rasharita Rochell had ups and downs in their 10 years of marriage, and Rasharita filed for divorce in December 1999.
- He has a son, Dominique Maxwell, from Myra Jenkins, an intensive care nurse at Shands Hospital Systems, and was arrested for failing to provide child support.
- On September 25, 1998, he filed for bankruptcy, a day before a court ordered him to pay $592,000 to Shelia Rias, who claimed he intentionally infected her with herpes.
Vernon began playing basketball at Buchholz High School and received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida. He played under coach Norm Sloan’s team from 1984 to 1988.
He left the University as the Gators’ all-time leading scorer and the No. 2 scorer in Southeastern Conference history behind LSU’s Pete Maravich.
The Denver Nuggets drafted him in the 1988 NBA draft and traded him to the San Antonio Spurs on the same day for a second-round pick the following year.
Similarly, he was traded to the Houston Rockets in 1990, where he became a key member of the franchise’s first championship team in 1994.
The Rockets waived him in June 1995, and he continued playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, and Dallas Mavericks.
Vernon Maxwell And His Wife, Rasharita, Divorced In 1999
Vernon Maxwell and Rasharita Rochell had ups and downs in their 10 years of marriage.
Later, Rasharita filed for divorce in December 1999, but Vernon did not hire a lawyer during the proceedings and gave her the title to his Alpharetta house, which he purchased for $348,000.
Vernon previously described how, following the Rockets’ victory over the Knicks in the NBA Finals, he partied like an animal for two weeks and nearly divorced.
Sh**, I thought she said…sh** I stayed out of that bit** for two weeks. When I got back there, the locks were changed on that MF. My kids are looking at me like, ‘You don’t get you a** away from here. You have been gone for two weeks.
Vernon Maxwell
Moreover, Rasharita received her husband’s Porsche and Range Rover and access to his Bank of America checking account in the divorce settlement.
Authorities arrested Vernon at his Alpharetta home in October 2002. They charged him with assault and possession of marijuana after a fight with Vernon Jr. over the number of push-ups that Vernon Jr. was doing.
Furthermore, Rasharita forced him out of the house and filed for a restraining order. In January 2003, he violated the restraining order and attempted to snatch the keys of the Range Rover.
He told his ex-wife that he would sell the vehicle and that she should appreciate it because he financially supported her.
Vernon Maxwell is the father of six children: Tristan, Ariel, Dominique, Brandon, Madison, and Ciara. Most of his children pursued careers in sports.
Vernon Maxwell Has A Son With Myra Jenkins
Vernon Maxwell had a son, Dominique Maxwell, with Myra Jenkins, an intensive care nurse at Shands Hospital Systems, in addition to Rasharita Rochell Maxwell.
He has spent several days in jail on charges of failure to pay more than $150,000 in child support. He never missed a child support payment for Dominique while playing for San Antonio and Philadelphia.
#MaxedOut is going to be special. pic.twitter.com/xnxgD5Kpuq
— Vernon Maxwell (@VernonMaxwell11) December 1, 2022
His lawyer, Steven Turnage, expressed that Vernon could not pay the monthly sum to Myra, who raised child support from $2,700 to $5,043 monthly, a year after Vernon signed a three-year, $5 million contract with the Seattle SuperSonics.
He’s just a poor excuse for a human being. He’s a poor excuse for a man. No man should run from their responsibilities. If he were a garbage man, I’d be fighting for this the same way.
Myra Jenkins
Dominique Maxwell was a 6-foot-6 sophomore at Buchholz High School. His coaches encouraged him to play basketball, but he didn’t want to become like his father.
Similarly, Myra, a former basketball player at Eastside High School, encouraged her son to try sports.
Dominique learned about his father only from watching television, and Myra would send cards addressed to Vernon to make her son think Vernon was thinking about him.
Dominique wrote his father a letter when he would be able to meet him when Vernon was serving a 90-day sentence for a marijuana possession charge in 1995.
Vernon reached out to 8-year-old Dominique in the summer of 1996 and took him to Shands Hospital for a blood test in the hopes of refuting paternity. The report proved he was a father and gave him $40 if he promised not to tell Myra.
Furthermore, Vernon was arrested on kidnapping and aggravated assault charges. He had abducted female acquaintance Belinda Beine and locked her in her Marietta home.
He beat her when she tried to escape and struck her with a TV tray, causing a bruise on her back.
On September 25, 1998, he filed for bankruptcy and said his former accountant, Tracy DeCosta, swindled him out of more than $500,000 and ran off to Mexico.
He declared bankruptcy a day before a court ordered him to pay $592,000 to Shelia Rias, who claimed he intentionally infected her with herpes.
Nonetheless, he has been linked to several other women, including actress Elisabeth Röhm, model Camila Alves, and Lithuanian model Deimante Guobyte.
Additional Information
- Vernon Maxwell, the son of Grace, was born on September 12, 1965, in Gainesville, Florida. His mother raised him alongside his brother, Greg Maxwell.
- He held the NBA’s record for most 3-pointers made in a season from 1991 to 1993.
- On February 6, 1995, Vernon punched a fan, Steve George, who had allegedly made racial comments. However, Steve denied the allegations and was suspended for 10 games.
- He signed with the Seattle SuperSonics for the 1999–2000 season but fought with Sonics star Gary Payton.
