Xavier McDaniel, known as “The X-Man,” was one of the most intense and physically dominant players of his era. A versatile forward, McDaniel brought a unique blend of scoring ability, toughness, and an aggressive attitude that made him stand out. In a candid discussion, McDaniel shared his thoughts on how his game compares to today’s NBA and reminisced about some of the fiercest moments of his career.
On Who in Today’s NBA Reminds Him of Himself
“As far as attitude, I would say Draymond Green. As far as playing-wise, NO ONE plays like me, you know? I can’t compare my game to nobody because I had an awesome turnaround jump shot! I don’t care what day of the week; I could be struggling and I haven’t shot it because Bernie Bickerstaff would be like, ‘Hey, you need to go to the post, get your rhythm going again…’ I don’t see anybody who plays like me except maybe Draymond with the attitude—being a fierce competitor, telling guys ‘F-you’… he’s about the only guy.
I tell people all the time, I like him. I like him! He’s in a great system with the Warriors that he doesn’t have to do but score 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists! I mean, think about it: That’s a big night for him. If he was on any other team, I don’t know how he would fare, but that system fits him just perfect. The NBA is all about fit. In the NBA, EVERYBODY can play, but can you put five guys that can play together as a great unit? Everybody got talent.”
On Why Draymond’s Style of Play is Frowned Upon in Today’s NBA
“Well, the difference is, Draymond is the aggressor and nobody’s been aggressive to him. The bully’s been bullying everybody and nobody is bullying the bully. People get a lot of ‘What did he say? What y’all gonna do?’ That’s how me and [Charles] Oakley got into fights. When they pushed me, I’ve already been in trouble with Rod Thorn all the time. And this time, when he said, ‘Whatcha gonna do?’ then it turned into a street mentality. That’s how it be on the streets.
So Draymond is going to keep doing it until somebody smacks him in the mouth. And I ain’t mad at him. I’d rather watch him foul the heck outta somebody than just not do nothing. A lot of guys don’t do anything, and I know the rules have changed so dramatically. Think about my first year—I fought two of my teammates. I fought Reggie King like, my second day of practice. I felt like he was trying to punk me; he was an OG player about 10-11 years in the league.
So when I was watching Magic and them on that ‘Showtime’ series and Magic said, ‘Ain’t nobody gonna punk me!’ That’s what I was telling them! I’ll give you Al Wood’s number right now, and he’ll tell you on that second day of practice that I said to them, ‘Y’all motherfuckers ain’t gonna punk me!’ I’m from South Carolina, from Edisto, a little section in South Carolina that people had wooden stoves and used coal to cook on. No central air, no central heat… you ain’t gonna do me like that!”
On Playing with the Nets in the Late 90s and John Calipari
“Well, I came to help out; be a leader. But I had two offers: I had one with the Miami Heat, and me and Pat [Riley]—I was really on board to go to Miami. The only thing I asked him was, ‘I can’t practice every day like you had us doing in New York. My knees can’t take it anymore. That’s it.’ And Pat couldn’t change on it. So, Don Casey called me and I met with him and Calipari, and I signed with them. But I wanted to go to Miami, but I just couldn’t do it, man. My knees weren’t going to be able to take it.
I love Pat Riley and I could’ve played for him if I didn’t have a bad knee. But I had played on a bad knee from… I got hurt in January of ‘88 the year I made the All-Star team and I played on that knee, and then I had surgery. I was still jumping pretty good, but when I turned 28-29, I started seeing a decline in my jumping ability. I had a 42” vertical coming out, and I just wasn’t able at 32 years old to be able to take that pounding night in and night out. It was supposed to be the leadership in the locker room and stuff like that, basically. And if guys got hurt, I’d come in and play for them, and that’s what I tried to do.”
On John Calipari’s Coaching Style in the NBA
“I thought that Cal would come in and change the perception of the Nets. But what I tried to explain to Cal when I was there is: You can’t have a college mentality with grown men. You don’t have an 18-year-old that you can fuss at and talk down to, you know? Or a 22-year-old. Once you get in the NBA, you gotta change your approach. And he used to be in the huddles, and the referees come to me and be like, ‘X. Will you tell him to calm his ass down?’ and I’d tell Cal, ‘Cal, you gotta calm down, man…’
He’s a college coach, and he might be ready for the NBA now that he’s an older coach, but back then, man… He would be stompin’ and I would be like, ‘Coach. You’re throwing a tantrum like who can’t get something out of the candy store! Calm down!’ And we could never calm him down, and you know how officials are—when you get on their bad side, they’re NOT gonna make calls for you unless it’s an obvious call. And that’s the problem that we had in New Jersey. But Cal? He’s a cool dude, man. We would sit there and talk, but I would just try to tell him, ‘Cal, you can call me anything you want. Trust me. It ain’t gonna affect me. My high school coach did it, my college coach did it… my momma still do. It ain’t gonna affect me, I’ma STILL go out. But some of these guys are sensitive.’”
On His Recollections of Kobe Bryant
“I knew that he had a lot of talent. I could see it, and he had a lot of Michael Jordan in him—the walk, the talk… One time I was at the free throw line playing them, and he said to me, ‘X-Man, I hated you!’ and I looked at him and said, ‘You hated me? Why?’ and he goes on and says, ‘You used to kill the Bulls! I loved Mike!’
It’s unfortunate how Shaq and Kobe’s egos got the best of each other because they could’ve won a LOT of stuff together. Even though Shaq got 4 and Kobe got 5, they could’ve done that together and maybe had 6,7, or 8 rings, you know? Egos play a big part in tearing stuff up, and that’s what happened to us in Seattle.”
