Happy Birthday, Maximo “Mad Max” Delantes! ( May 4 )

Happy Birthday, Maximo “Mad Max” Delantes

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

1993 PBA Rookie Draft 16th overall pick 
Sta. Lucia franchise pioneer
University of Visayas Green Lancer
4-year PBA veteran 
Socsargen Marlin and Cebu Gem in the MBA

IN THE BOX OFFICE ACTION adventure hit film Mad Max, Mel Gibson, the superhero who battled the dark forces single-handedly in the vast wilderness in a distant future to protect the earth's last resources, was launched to worldwide superstardom. He has since taken on a variety of roles, the most remembered of which was the Lethal Weapon series in which he portrayed the true-to-life super law enforcer battling crime lords and their underlings. Despite the recession that hit the United States (the latest economic report says the US has already disentangled itself from recession), Gibson has kept his superstar status intact.  Which brings us to starker realities in our entertainment industry. The PBA, especially.  While our sports mag continue to chronicle the exploits of PBA superstars in glossy covers, some players fight for survival and others struggle to get back into the PBA mainstream after getting axed.
One such player is Max Delantes, dubbed The Mad Max' by a sports commentator during the early days of his Sta. Lucia Realty stint when he showed some brilliance. Unfortunately, Delantes' exploits were shortlived. And when it became evident he was beginning to warm the bench than get pure hardcourt action, it dawned on him he was being gradually conditioned to accept a sad fact: goodbye to your career. The goodbye was not at all tragic because he got the chance to join Sta. Lucia's Guam jaunt with three other PBA ballclubs. But in the end, it did not soothe his bleeding heart. In his Novaliches abode where he sulked for four days after the Sta. Lucia management told him his contract would not be renewed he wept like a child.