Age-old stories of Gregg Popovich never seem to disappoint.

Sometimes they detail a lucky dinner run-in or the coach’s proud love of wine (and sharing it), but other times, they paint a rougher picture of a Hall-of-Famer who’s no stranger to tough love.

Vernon Maxwell experienced the latter.

The longtime guard was drafted in the second round to the Denver Nuggets in 1989 before being immediately traded to the San Antonio Spurs, where he spent his first two seasons. In 1991, Maxwell’s rights were sold to the Houston Rockets; he spent several seasons there before making his way back to San Antonio for the 1996-97 season.

Along the way, he found his way into an ample amount of clubs. Popovich didn’t much fancy that.

“Hey man, do not go out (anymore),” said Maxwell, recalling an interaction with Popovich on an appearance on ALL THE SMOKE. “If you go out ever again while you’re here, I’m going to get rid of you.”

Incidentally, the coach wasn’t kidding. Popovich hired a private investigator to look into Maxwell’s pastimes due to his tendency to get into fights while he was out.

“He ain’t never say he was going to put a damn P.I. on me,” Maxwell said.

Once it happened again, Popovich carried through with his threat. Maxwell was called into Popovich’s office and promptly told to pack his locker. He might not have been shipped off that day, but that ended up being his final season in San Antonio, as he moved to Orlando over the offseason.

That was all she wrote.

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