Video: Cedric Maxwell is one of the Observer’s Sport Legends of the Carolinas

Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell, the best basketball player in Charlotte 49ers history, still has a lot to say.

Maxwell, the second interview subject for the 2023 season of “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” was an All-American big man who led the 49ers to the 1977 Final Four. That remains the school’s only Final Four appearance, and Charlotte might have won it all that year but for a controversial non-call at the buzzer against Marquette. In Maxwell’s four years at Charlotte, the 49ers had a remarkable 58-0 home record.

In our “Sports Legends” interview, Maxwell discussed how he got the nickname “Cornbread,” the 49ers’ run to the Final Four, playing with Bird, the fight he got into with Charles Barkley and how he found out who his biological father was only a few years ago.

For much more from this interview as well as other “Sports Legends” guests like Steph Curry, Jay Bilas, Greg Olsen, Roy Williams and Dawn Staley, check out the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Video: Cedric Maxwell is one of the Observer’s Sport Legends of the Carolinas."

Scott Fowler

The Charlotte Observer

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Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription