Kevin McHale
Encyclopedia
Kevin Edward McHale is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Houston Rockets
. After his playing career, he worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves
as the team's general manager and later its coach. He was fired as coach in June 2009. McHale then worked as an analyst for NBA TV
and Turner Sports.
, Minnesota. In his senior season at Hibbing High School
, he was named Minnesota's Mr. Basketball
of 1976 and led his squad to a runner-up finish in the AA Minnesota State Championship game.
In 1992, McHale was elected to the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame.
In 1990 and again in 1991, he appeared as himself in two episodes of Cheers
, a television situation comedy set in Boston.
position for the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1980, with career averages of 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
He was named All-Big Ten
in 1979 and 1980 and still ranks second in school history in career points (1704) and rebounds (950).
In 1995, to coincide with the University of Minnesota's 100th anniversary, he was selected as top player in the history of University of Minnesota men's basketball.
McHale is famous for an encounter with Chuck Foreman
in the Gopher locker room. Foreman, a famous Minnesota Vikings player at the time, was congratulating the Gophers on a hard fought victory. As Foreman was shaking all the players' hands, when he arrived at the then-unknown power forward, McHale displayed his comic wit: "Why hello, Mr. Foreman. What do you do for a living?"
the Celtics held the number one overall pick. But in a shrewd pre-draft trade, considered by some to be among the most lopsided in NBA history, Boston Celtics President Red Auerbach
dealt the top pick and an additional first-round pick to the Golden State Warriors
for center Robert Parish
and the Warriors' first-round pick, the third overall. With that pick the Celtics chose McHale.
McHale's stay in Boston got off to a rocky start as he held out for a large contract, even threatening to play in Italy
, before signing a three-year deal with the Celtics. Backing up Larry Bird
and Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell
at forward, McHale made an immediate impact and was named to the NBA's All-Rookie First Team in his rookie season. Boston finished with the NBA's best record that year.
In the playoffs the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls
in the first round. In the Eastern Conference Finals
, the Celtics faced a 3–1 deficit against the Philadelphia 76ers
. But Boston won the last three games of the series, including Game 6 on Philadelphia's home court. McHale helped save the Game 6 win by blocking Andrew Toney
's shot and corralling the rebound with 16 seconds left to protect the Celtics' one-point lead. In the NBA Finals, Boston defeated the Houston Rockets
in six games to capture the club's fourteenth championship.
The Celtics failed to advance to the NBA Finals the next two seasons. Philadelphia exacted a measure of revenge in the 1982
Eastern Conference Final, beating Boston at its home arena, the Boston Garden
, in a seventh game. In the 1983
Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Celtics were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks
, leading to the firing of head coach Bill Fitch.
Following the 1982–83 season McHale's contract with the Celtics expired, and the New York Knicks
signed him to a contract offer sheet. Auerbach retaliated by signing three of New York's top free agent players to offer sheets. The Knicks elected to re-sign their players and give up their pursuit of McHale. McHale eventually re-signed with Boston, his $1 million per season contract making him the fourth-highest paid player in the NBA.
McHale won the first of his consecutive NBA Sixth Man Award
s as Boston won a league-best 62 games in the 1983–84 season. Led by a new head coach, former Celtic K.C. Jones, Boston was also bolstered by the acquisition of point guard
Dennis Johnson
from the Phoenix Suns
.
After surviving a tough seven-game semifinal battle with the Knicks, the Celtics avenged the previous season's playoff loss to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston would face the Los Angeles Lakers
in the NBA Finals in a highly-anticipated matchup.
In Game 4 of the finals, with the Celtics trailing in both the game and the series, McHale delivered a hard foul to Kurt Rambis
, violently flinging him down by his throat, as the Lakers' forward raced to the basket. The physical play touched off a bench-clearing scuffle. Boston came back to win the game in overtime and tie the series at two games apiece. They eventually prevailed in seven games to win the franchise's fifteenth championship.
McHale continued to come off the bench during first half of the 1984–1985 season, but moved into a starting role in February 1985 after Cedric Maxwell injured a knee. On March 3 versus the Detroit Pistons
McHale had his greatest scoring night, setting the Celtics' single-game scoring record with 56 points. Two nights later McHale scored 42 points against the Knicks, the only other time in his career he topped 40 points in a game. The 98 points in consecutive games is still a Celtics' record. On March 12, just nine days after McHale scored 56, Larry Bird established a new Celtics' single-game scoring mark by pouring in 60 points versus the Atlanta Hawks
.
Boston captured its second straight Eastern Conference title but was upended in the NBA Finals in six games by the rival Lakers. McHale led the Celtics in scoring (26.0) and rebounding (10.7) versus the Lakers, including a 32-point, 16-rebound performance in the decisive sixth game.
The 1985–1986
edition of the Boston Celtics won the franchise's sixteenth NBA Championship and is considered one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
The Celtics acquired former NBA Most Valuable Player
Bill Walton
in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers
in September 1985, and added the 6 ft 11 in (211 cm) center to its already-formidable frontline. Boston sent Cedric Maxwell
to the Clippers to complete the trade, clearing the way for McHale to move into a full time starting role. McHale averaged better than 20-points per game for the first time in his career (21.3) and finished thirteenth in the NBA Most Valuable Player voting.
He joined starters Larry Bird
, Robert Parish
, Dennis Johnson
and Danny Ainge
as the Celtics steamrolled the NBA with a league-best 67–15 record. The team set a then-NBA record by finishing with an 82–18 win-loss record (including playoffs), breaking the record of 81 victories by the 1971–72 Lakers.
Boston also set the NBA mark for most home victories in one season, finishing 50–1 (including playoffs) in 48 games in the Boston Garden and three games in Hartford
, Connecticut. The Portland Trail Blazers
were the only team to beat Boston at home, winning 121–103 in Boston on December 6, 1985. (The Celtics did not lose again at home until more than a year later, when Lakers beat them 117–110 on December 12, 1986.)
Boston won 41 of its first 50 games, including two victories over the Lakers. In a rout of the Clippers on December 30, 1985, McHale set his single-game high in rebounds with 18 (a mark he tied versus the Pistons in 1989).
An extremely durable player through the first five seasons of his career, McHale missed 14 games in early 1986 due to an injured Achilles tendon
in his left ankle, but he was healthy when the playoffs began. Boston rolled through the Eastern Conference, winning 11 of 12 games versus Chicago, Atlanta and Milwaukee.
For the second time in five years the Celtics faced Houston in the NBA Finals, and the result was the same as in 1981, as Boston won the title in six games. McHale averaged 25.8 points per game in the finals to lead all scorers.
By his seventh pro season, McHale had rehearsed and refined his low-post moves and had become one of the NBA's most dominant offensive forces, out-leaping, out-spinning and out-maneuvering defender after defender in his "torture chamber". McHale was never better than the 1986–1987 season
, setting career highs in scoring (26.1) and rebounding (9.9). He also became the first player in NBA history to shoot sixty percent or better from the field (60.4%) and eighty percent or better from the free throw line (83.6%) in the same season. McHale was named to the All-NBA First Team, was named the NBA's best defensive player by the league's coaches, and finished fourth in the Most Valuable Player voting behind Magic Johnson
, Michael Jordan
, and Larry Bird
.
In nine games from February 23, 1987, through March 13, McHale played arguably the best stretch of basketball in his career. He averaged 30.7 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting a staggering 71.7 percent from the floor. During this stretch McHale scored his season-high in points, 38 versus the Pistons on March 1.
In a win at Chicago on March 27, McHale broke the navicular bone
in his right foot. He ignored doctors' advice that the injury could be career-threatening and continued to play. In the playoffs a hobbled McHale averaged 39 minutes per game and connected on 58 percent of his shots as Boston once again won the Eastern Conference title. Boston swept the Bulls in the first round for the second straight year and survived two seven-game series with the Bucks and Pistons. A tired and hurting Celtics team could not defend its championship, losing to the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals.
Off-season surgery on his injured right foot and ankle forced McHale to sit out the first month of the 1987–1988 season
He scored 22 points in 22 minutes of play in his return to the Celtics on December 1, 1987, versus Atlanta.
Teammate Danny Ainge once called McHale "The Black Hole
", joking that when the basketball was passed inside to McHale it disappeared because he rarely passed it back. But in a win over the Dallas Mavericks
on April 3, 1988, McHale played the role of passer, distributing a career high 10 assists.
The Celtics won 57 games and made their fifth straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. McHale shot 60 percent from the field and averaged a career playoff-high 25.4 points per game as Boston defeated the Knicks in four games and the Hawks in a thrilling seven-game semi-final series. The Detroit Pistons were too strong for the Celtics this time around and defeated Boston in six games in the conference final. Head coach K. C. Jones
retired at the end of the season, and the Celtics of the Bird-McHale-Parish era would never again advance past the conference semi-finals.
coaxed the team into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's eighth and final seed behind the play of McHale and Parish and second-year guard Reggie Lewis
.
The Celtics faced the Pistons in the playoffs for the third straight year. Detroit bottled up McHale this time around, holding him to 19 points per game and less than 50 percent shooting from the field. The Pistons easily swept the Celtics en route to their first NBA Championship.
The 1989–90 season marked the last time McHale was healthy enough to play in all 82 regular season games for the Celtics, but the season was one of discontent for Boston. Second-year point guard Brian Shaw left the team to play in Europe after a salary dispute, and Larry Bird—back from his injuries—was criticized by teammates, including McHale, for taking too many shots and trying to dominate games on his own.
Rodgers moved McHale back into his old "sixth man" role for the majority of the regular season; McHale's scoring dipped into the teens coming off the bench. With 23 games to play and Boston just nine games above .500, Rodgers decided to put McHale back into the starting lineup. McHale averaged 24.2 points and 9 rebounds down the stretch as the Celtics went 18–5 and finished just a game behind Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.
McHale became the first player in twenty years to finish in the NBA's top ten in field goal percentage (seventh) and free throw percentage (fifth) in the same season.
Boston took the first two games of its first-round playoff series with the Knicks, including a record-setting 157–128 blowout in Game 2. In a shocking reversal the Knicks fought back and won the last three games of the series, bouncing the stunned Celtics from the playoffs. Head coach Jimmy Rodgers was fired following the playoff disappointment.
McHale contemplated retirement in the off-season after having another surgery performed on his balky right ankle, but he came back for the 1990–91 season. Boston paired young backcourt players Lewis, Dee Brown, Kevin Gamble
and Brian Shaw—back from his year in Europe—with Bird, McHale and Parish and hired Chris Ford
, a longtime assistant coach and member of the Celtics' 1981 championship team, to be its head coach.
The season got off to a promising start as Boston sprinted to a 29–5 record, but the Celtics were soon slowed by injuries to McHale (ankle) and Bird (back). McHale missed 14 regular season games and Bird 22, as the Celtics limped to a 27–21 record over the last three months of the season. Boston defeated the Indiana Pacers
in five games in a hotly-contested first round playoff matchup, but for the third time in four years the Celtics were eliminated by Detroit, this time in a six-game semi-final series.
McHale played in a career-low 56 games and Bird played in just 45, as each suffered through an injury-plagued 1991–92 season
. Boston struggled for most of the regular season but got hot as the playoffs approached, winning 15 of its last 16 games and finishing with 51 wins, the third-most in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics swept the Pacers in the first round, but were defeated in seven games in the conference semi-finals by the younger, quicker Cleveland Cavaliers
. Bird retired from the NBA three months later.
The 1992–93 season was McHale's last in the NBA. McHale played in 71 games, but he was severely hampered by leg and back injuries. He averaged just 10.7 points per game and shot less than 50 percent from the floor (45.9%) for the only time in his career.
In the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Charlotte Hornets the Celtics were stunned by the loss of Lewis, their leading scorer. He collapsed on the court during Game 1 and was diagnosed with what eventually proved to be a fatal heart condition. McHale performed brilliantly in the series. He averaged 19.6 points per game and shot 58 percent from the field—including 30 points and 10 rebounds in Game 2—but Boston fell to the Hornets in four games.
McHale announced his retirement while talking with reporters at the scorer's table after the Game 4 loss in Charlotte.
Larry Bird
and center
Robert Parish
. The trio of Hall of Famers became known as the "Big Three" and led the Celtics to five NBA Finals
appearances and three NBA Championships, in 1981
, 1984
and 1986
. For the first five years of his career McHale primarily came off the bench for the Celtics, winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
in 1984 and 1985.
Possessing a wide variety of offensive moves close to the basket the agile, long-armed McHale played in seven National Basketball Association All-Star Game
s between 1984 and 1991. McHale's finest season came in 1986–87 when he was named to the All-NBA First Team as a forward. He led the NBA in field goal percentage in 1987
and 1988
, shooting 60.4 percent each season. Also a standout defensive player, McHale was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First or Second Team six times. He twice blocked nine shots in a game, the most ever by a Boston Celtics' player (blocked shots did not become an official NBA statistic until the 1974 season
).
In 971 regular season games McHale averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds and in 169 post-season games averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
At the end of the 2007–2008 season
McHale ranked tenth in NBA history in career field goal percentage (55.4%), and he is among the Celtics' career leaders in several categories, including games played, points scored and rebounding.
McHale's number 32
jersey was retired by the Celtics on January 30, 1994, during a halftime ceremony at the Boston Garden http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/RetiredNumbers.html.
He was chosen one of the NBA's fifty greatest players and was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
in 1996.
McHale was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
| align="left" | 1980–81
| align="left" | Boston
| 82 || 1 || 20.1 || .533 || .000 || .679 || 4.4 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 1.8 || 10.0
|-
| align="left" | 1981–82
| align="left" | Boston
| 82 || 33 || 28.4 || .531 || .000 || .754 || 6.8 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 2.3 || 13.6
|-
| align="left" | 1982–83
| align="left" | Boston
| 82 || 13 || 28.6 || .541 || .000 || .717 || 6.7 || 1.3 || 0.4 || 2.3 || 14.1
|-
| align="left" | 1983–84
| align="left" | Boston
| 82 || 10 || 31.4 || .556 || .333 || .765 || 7.4 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 1.5 || 18.4
|-
| align="left" | 1984–85
| align="left" | Boston
| 79 || 31 || 33.6 || .570 || .000 || .760 || 9.0 || 1.8 || 0.4 || 1.5 || 19.8
|-
| align="left" | 1985–86
| align="left" | Boston
| 68 || 62 || 35.3 || .574 || .000 || .776 || 8.1 || 2.7 || 0.4 || 2.8 || 21.3
|-
| align="left" | 1986–87
| align="left" | Boston
| 77 || 77 || 39.7 || .604 || .000 || .836 || 9.9 || 2.6 || 0.5 || 2.2 || 26.1
|-
| align="left" | 1987–88
| align="left" | Boston
| 64 || 63 || 37.3 || .604 || .000 || .797 || 8.4 || 2.7 || 0.4 || 1.4 || 22.6
|-
| align="left" | 1988–89
| align="left" | Boston
| 78 || 74 || 36.9 || .546 || .000 || .818 || 8.2 || 2.2 || 0.3 || 1.2 || 22.5
|-
| align="left" | 1989–90
| align="left" | Boston
| 82 || 25 || 33.2 || .549 || .333 || .893 || 8.3 || 2.1 || 0.4 || 1.9 || 20.9
|-
| align="left" | 1990–91
| align="left" | Boston
| 68 || 10 || 30.4 || .553 || .405 || .829 || 7.1 || 1.9 || 0.4 || 2.1 || 18.4
|-
| align="left" | 1991–92
| align="left" | Boston
| 56 || 1 || 30.4 || .509 || .000 || .822 || 5.9 || 1.5 || 0.2 || 1.1 || 13.9
|-
| align="left" | 1992–93
| align="left" | Boston
| 71 || 0 || 30.4 || .459 || .111 || .841 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 0.8 || 10.7
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" | ...
| 971 || 400 || 31.0 || .554 || .261 || .798 || 7.3 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 1.7 || 17.9
| align="left" | 1980–81
| align="left" | Boston
| 17 || ... || 18.1 || .540 || .000 || .639 || 3.5 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 1.5 || 8.5
|-
| align="left" | 1981–82
| align="left" | Boston
| 12 || ... || 22.0 || .575 || .000 || .755 || 7.1 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 2.3 || 16.2
|-
as a television analyst and special assistant. In the summer of 1994, new Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor
promoted him to Assistant General Manager. He continued to broadcast Timberwolves games and work as an executive until 1995, when he succeeded Jack McCloskey
as Vice President of Basketball Operations, where one of his first moves was to hire former University of Minnesota teammate Flip Saunders
as head coach of the Timberwolves.
The next season McHale made the decision to draft high school phenom forward Kevin Garnett
with the fifth overall pick of the 1995 NBA Draft
. Though Garnett developed into one of the NBA's best players, the Timberwolves advanced past the first round of the Western Conference playoffs only once in Garnett's twelve seasons with the team.
It was also during McHale's reign that the Timberwolves were punished by the NBA for making a secret deal with free agent forward Joe Smith to circumvent the league's salary cap rules. Before the 1998–99 season, Smith agreed in secret to sign three one-year contracts with the Timberwolves for less than his market value. In return, Smith received a promise that the Timberwolves would give him a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract before the 2001–02 season.
In 2000, after word of the secret agreement got out, NBA commissioner David Stern
voided Smith's final one-year contract with the Timberwolves, making Smith a free agent. Stern also took away three of the Timberwolves' next five first-round draft picks and fined the team $3.5 million. Smith signed with Detroit for one season, but came back to Minnesota before the 2001–2002 season as a free agent.
On February 12, 2005, the Timberwolves fired Saunders and McHale took on head coaching duties for the remainder of the 2004–05 season
. He compiled a 19–12 record but had no interest in continuing as head coach. Dwane Casey
was hired as the new head coach in the off-season of 2005.
With Minnesota sitting at .500 midway through the 2006–07 season, McHale fired Casey on January 23, 2007. Timberwolves' assistant coach Randy Wittman
was tabbed to take over for Casey. Despite missing the playoffs, on April 19, 2007, the Timberwolves announced that McHale would return for the 2007–08 season
, as would Wittman. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/04/19/wolves.mchale.wittman.ap
Prior to the 2007 NBA Draft
McHale reportedly tried to work out a trade with Celtics General Manager and former teammate Danny Ainge
that would have sent Kevin Garnett to Boston for a draft pick and players. Garnett's agent told the Timberwolves and the Celtics that his client had no interest in playing for Boston, and the potential trade was scuttled. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2912075 In late July 2007, Minnesota and Boston once again tried to consummate a deal for Garnett. Garnett eased his stance on being traded to Boston; on July 31 he was sent to the Celtics for five players and two first-round draft picks. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2956103 http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070730 Garnett finished third in the MVP balloting and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in leading Boston to the NBA Championship over the Lakers.
at the time indicated that he was not seeking to replace McHale as head coach. On June 17, 2009, however, it was announced that McHale would not return as the Timberwolves' head coach for the 2009–2010 season. On June 1, 2011, McHale became the head coach for the Houston Rockets
, replacing Rick Adelman
.
McHale is one of six members of the 1985–1986 Celtics' championship team to serve as an NBA head coach (Larry Bird
, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Sam Vincent
and Rick Carlisle
are the others).
McHale was also a part of the studio team for NBA TV's Fan Night broadcasts on Tuesday nights during the season, along with Ernie Johnson
and Chris Webber
. Kevin McHale also called games for the station during the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League.
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
. After his playing career, he worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
as the team's general manager and later its coach. He was fired as coach in June 2009. McHale then worked as an analyst for NBA TV
NBA TV
NBA TV is a television specialty channel that is dedicated to showcasing the sport of basketball in the United States. The network is financially backed by the National Basketball Association , which also uses NBA TV as a way of advertising their out of market package NBA League Pass, and partner...
and Turner Sports.
Early life
Kevin McHale was born to Paul Austin McHale and Josephine Patricia Starcevich in HibbingHibbing, Minnesota
Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,361 at the 2010 census. The city was built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range. At the edge of town is the largest open-pit iron mine in the world. U.S...
, Minnesota. In his senior season at Hibbing High School
Hibbing High School
Hibbing High School in Hibbing, Minnesota is a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As the Hull-Rust-Mahoning Mine expanded, iron ore was discovered under the existing town of Hibbing around 1918. The entire town of Hibbing was moved two miles south to make way for the...
, he was named Minnesota's Mr. Basketball
Minnesota Mr. Basketball
Minnesota Mr. Basketball is an annual award recognizing excellence in Minnesota boys' high school basketball. The female equivalent is Minnesota Miss Basketball. The award was established in 1975 and is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys' basketball senior in the U.S. state of...
of 1976 and led his squad to a runner-up finish in the AA Minnesota State Championship game.
In 1992, McHale was elected to the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame.
Personal life
On June 30, 1982, he married his wife Lynn. They have five children.In 1990 and again in 1991, he appeared as himself in two episodes of Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, a television situation comedy set in Boston.
College career
The 6 ft 10 in (209 cm) McHale played basketball at the power forwardPower forward (basketball)
Power forward is a position in the sport of basketball. The position is referred to in playbook terms as the four position and is commonly abbreviated "PF". It has also been referred to as the "post" position. Power forwards play a role similar to that of center in what is called the "post" or "low...
position for the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1980, with career averages of 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
He was named All-Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
in 1979 and 1980 and still ranks second in school history in career points (1704) and rebounds (950).
In 1995, to coincide with the University of Minnesota's 100th anniversary, he was selected as top player in the history of University of Minnesota men's basketball.
McHale is famous for an encounter with Chuck Foreman
Chuck Foreman
Chuck Foreman is a retired NFL football player.He was a running back during his NFL career, although he often caught passes out of the backfield.-Early career:...
in the Gopher locker room. Foreman, a famous Minnesota Vikings player at the time, was congratulating the Gophers on a hard fought victory. As Foreman was shaking all the players' hands, when he arrived at the then-unknown power forward, McHale displayed his comic wit: "Why hello, Mr. Foreman. What do you do for a living?"
Early professional playing career
Heading into the 1980 NBA Draft1980 NBA Draft
The 1980 NBA Draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 10, 1980, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...
the Celtics held the number one overall pick. But in a shrewd pre-draft trade, considered by some to be among the most lopsided in NBA history, Boston Celtics President Red Auerbach
Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...
dealt the top pick and an additional first-round pick to the Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
for center Robert Parish
Robert Parish
Robert Lee Parish is a retired American basketball center. He was known for his strong defense and jump shooting, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003...
and the Warriors' first-round pick, the third overall. With that pick the Celtics chose McHale.
McHale's stay in Boston got off to a rocky start as he held out for a large contract, even threatening to play in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, before signing a three-year deal with the Celtics. Backing up Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
and Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell
Cedric Maxwell
Cedric Bryan Maxwell is a retired American professional basketball player now in radio broadcasting. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the NBA, and played a key role in two championships with the Boston Celtics.-College career:Maxwell was a star forward/center for the Charlotte 49ers...
at forward, McHale made an immediate impact and was named to the NBA's All-Rookie First Team in his rookie season. Boston finished with the NBA's best record that year.
In the playoffs the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
in the first round. In the Eastern Conference Finals
NBA Conference Finals
The National Basketball Association Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Championship series of the National Basketball Association , a major professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America...
, the Celtics faced a 3–1 deficit against the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
. But Boston won the last three games of the series, including Game 6 on Philadelphia's home court. McHale helped save the Game 6 win by blocking Andrew Toney
Andrew Toney
Andrew Toney is an American former professional basketball player who played for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers from 1980 to 1988...
's shot and corralling the rebound with 16 seconds left to protect the Celtics' one-point lead. In the NBA Finals, Boston defeated the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
in six games to capture the club's fourteenth championship.
The Celtics failed to advance to the NBA Finals the next two seasons. Philadelphia exacted a measure of revenge in the 1982
1981-82 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Houston Rockets*Rookie of the Year: Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets*Coach of the Year: Gene Shue, Washington Bullets*All-NBA First Team:**Larry Bird, Boston Celtics...
Eastern Conference Final, beating Boston at its home arena, the Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
, in a seventh game. In the 1983
1982-83 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Terry Cummings, San Diego Clippers*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Celtics were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
, leading to the firing of head coach Bill Fitch.
Following the 1982–83 season McHale's contract with the Celtics expired, and the New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
signed him to a contract offer sheet. Auerbach retaliated by signing three of New York's top free agent players to offer sheets. The Knicks elected to re-sign their players and give up their pursuit of McHale. McHale eventually re-signed with Boston, his $1 million per season contract making him the fourth-highest paid player in the NBA.
McHale won the first of his consecutive NBA Sixth Man Award
NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's most valuable player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute . A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout...
s as Boston won a league-best 62 games in the 1983–84 season. Led by a new head coach, former Celtic K.C. Jones, Boston was also bolstered by the acquisition of point guard
Point guard
Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...
Dennis Johnson
Dennis Johnson
Dennis Wayne Johnson nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics and coach of the Los Angeles Clippers...
from the Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
.
After surviving a tough seven-game semifinal battle with the Knicks, the Celtics avenged the previous season's playoff loss to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston would face the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in the NBA Finals in a highly-anticipated matchup.
In Game 4 of the finals, with the Celtics trailing in both the game and the series, McHale delivered a hard foul to Kurt Rambis
Kurt Rambis
Darrell Kurt Rambis is a retired American professional basketball player and former head coach for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.-Biography:...
, violently flinging him down by his throat, as the Lakers' forward raced to the basket. The physical play touched off a bench-clearing scuffle. Boston came back to win the game in overtime and tie the series at two games apiece. They eventually prevailed in seven games to win the franchise's fifteenth championship.
McHale continued to come off the bench during first half of the 1984–1985 season, but moved into a starting role in February 1985 after Cedric Maxwell injured a knee. On March 3 versus the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
McHale had his greatest scoring night, setting the Celtics' single-game scoring record with 56 points. Two nights later McHale scored 42 points against the Knicks, the only other time in his career he topped 40 points in a game. The 98 points in consecutive games is still a Celtics' record. On March 12, just nine days after McHale scored 56, Larry Bird established a new Celtics' single-game scoring mark by pouring in 60 points versus the Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
.
Boston captured its second straight Eastern Conference title but was upended in the NBA Finals in six games by the rival Lakers. McHale led the Celtics in scoring (26.0) and rebounding (10.7) versus the Lakers, including a 32-point, 16-rebound performance in the decisive sixth game.
The 1985–1986
1985-86 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs...
edition of the Boston Celtics won the franchise's sixteenth NBA Championship and is considered one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
The Celtics acquired former NBA Most Valuable Player
NBA Most Valuable Player Award
The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1955–56 NBA season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement...
Bill Walton
Bill Walton
William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...
in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
in September 1985, and added the 6 ft 11 in (211 cm) center to its already-formidable frontline. Boston sent Cedric Maxwell
Cedric Maxwell
Cedric Bryan Maxwell is a retired American professional basketball player now in radio broadcasting. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the NBA, and played a key role in two championships with the Boston Celtics.-College career:Maxwell was a star forward/center for the Charlotte 49ers...
to the Clippers to complete the trade, clearing the way for McHale to move into a full time starting role. McHale averaged better than 20-points per game for the first time in his career (21.3) and finished thirteenth in the NBA Most Valuable Player voting.
He joined starters Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
, Robert Parish
Robert Parish
Robert Lee Parish is a retired American basketball center. He was known for his strong defense and jump shooting, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003...
, Dennis Johnson
Dennis Johnson
Dennis Wayne Johnson nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics and coach of the Los Angeles Clippers...
and Danny Ainge
Danny Ainge
Daniel Ray "Danny" Ainge is an American basketball manager and retired professional basketball and baseball player, currently serving as President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics....
as the Celtics steamrolled the NBA with a league-best 67–15 record. The team set a then-NBA record by finishing with an 82–18 win-loss record (including playoffs), breaking the record of 81 victories by the 1971–72 Lakers.
Boston also set the NBA mark for most home victories in one season, finishing 50–1 (including playoffs) in 48 games in the Boston Garden and three games in Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, Connecticut. The Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
were the only team to beat Boston at home, winning 121–103 in Boston on December 6, 1985. (The Celtics did not lose again at home until more than a year later, when Lakers beat them 117–110 on December 12, 1986.)
Boston won 41 of its first 50 games, including two victories over the Lakers. In a rout of the Clippers on December 30, 1985, McHale set his single-game high in rebounds with 18 (a mark he tied versus the Pistons in 1989).
An extremely durable player through the first five seasons of his career, McHale missed 14 games in early 1986 due to an injured Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
in his left ankle, but he was healthy when the playoffs began. Boston rolled through the Eastern Conference, winning 11 of 12 games versus Chicago, Atlanta and Milwaukee.
For the second time in five years the Celtics faced Houston in the NBA Finals, and the result was the same as in 1981, as Boston won the title in six games. McHale averaged 25.8 points per game in the finals to lead all scorers.
Middle career: the "torture chamber"
"When I was healthy, I always felt I could score," McHale once told reporters. "When it went into what I called 'The torture chamber,' I knew it was in."By his seventh pro season, McHale had rehearsed and refined his low-post moves and had become one of the NBA's most dominant offensive forces, out-leaping, out-spinning and out-maneuvering defender after defender in his "torture chamber". McHale was never better than the 1986–1987 season
1986-87 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:* Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers* Rookie of the Year: Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers* Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers...
, setting career highs in scoring (26.1) and rebounding (9.9). He also became the first player in NBA history to shoot sixty percent or better from the field (60.4%) and eighty percent or better from the free throw line (83.6%) in the same season. McHale was named to the All-NBA First Team, was named the NBA's best defensive player by the league's coaches, and finished fourth in the Most Valuable Player voting behind Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
, Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, and Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
.
In nine games from February 23, 1987, through March 13, McHale played arguably the best stretch of basketball in his career. He averaged 30.7 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting a staggering 71.7 percent from the floor. During this stretch McHale scored his season-high in points, 38 versus the Pistons on March 1.
In a win at Chicago on March 27, McHale broke the navicular bone
Navicular bone
The navicular bone is a small bone found in the feet of both humans and horses.- Human anatomy :The navicular bone is one of the tarsal bones, found in the foot. Its name derives from the bone's resemblance to a small boat, caused by the strongly concave proximal articular surface...
in his right foot. He ignored doctors' advice that the injury could be career-threatening and continued to play. In the playoffs a hobbled McHale averaged 39 minutes per game and connected on 58 percent of his shots as Boston once again won the Eastern Conference title. Boston swept the Bulls in the first round for the second straight year and survived two seven-game series with the Bucks and Pistons. A tired and hurting Celtics team could not defend its championship, losing to the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals.
Off-season surgery on his injured right foot and ankle forced McHale to sit out the first month of the 1987–1988 season
1987-88 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls*Rookie of the Year: Mark Jackson, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls...
He scored 22 points in 22 minutes of play in his return to the Celtics on December 1, 1987, versus Atlanta.
Teammate Danny Ainge once called McHale "The Black Hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
", joking that when the basketball was passed inside to McHale it disappeared because he rarely passed it back. But in a win over the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
on April 3, 1988, McHale played the role of passer, distributing a career high 10 assists.
The Celtics won 57 games and made their fifth straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. McHale shot 60 percent from the field and averaged a career playoff-high 25.4 points per game as Boston defeated the Knicks in four games and the Hawks in a thrilling seven-game semi-final series. The Detroit Pistons were too strong for the Celtics this time around and defeated Boston in six games in the conference final. Head coach K. C. Jones
K. C. Jones
K. C. Jones is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. K. C. Jones is his full name.-Playing career:...
retired at the end of the season, and the Celtics of the Bird-McHale-Parish era would never again advance past the conference semi-finals.
Later career
Injuries limited Larry Bird to just six games in 1988–89 and the Celtics slipped to 42–40. New head coach Jimmy RodgersJimmy Rodgers (basketball)
James Donald "Jimmy" Rodgers is an American former basketball coach. He coached the Boston Celtics for two seasons, and the Minnesota Timberwolves for nearly a season and a half...
coaxed the team into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's eighth and final seed behind the play of McHale and Parish and second-year guard Reggie Lewis
Reggie Lewis
Reggie Lewis was an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993.-Early life:...
.
The Celtics faced the Pistons in the playoffs for the third straight year. Detroit bottled up McHale this time around, holding him to 19 points per game and less than 50 percent shooting from the field. The Pistons easily swept the Celtics en route to their first NBA Championship.
The 1989–90 season marked the last time McHale was healthy enough to play in all 82 regular season games for the Celtics, but the season was one of discontent for Boston. Second-year point guard Brian Shaw left the team to play in Europe after a salary dispute, and Larry Bird—back from his injuries—was criticized by teammates, including McHale, for taking too many shots and trying to dominate games on his own.
Rodgers moved McHale back into his old "sixth man" role for the majority of the regular season; McHale's scoring dipped into the teens coming off the bench. With 23 games to play and Boston just nine games above .500, Rodgers decided to put McHale back into the starting lineup. McHale averaged 24.2 points and 9 rebounds down the stretch as the Celtics went 18–5 and finished just a game behind Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.
McHale became the first player in twenty years to finish in the NBA's top ten in field goal percentage (seventh) and free throw percentage (fifth) in the same season.
Boston took the first two games of its first-round playoff series with the Knicks, including a record-setting 157–128 blowout in Game 2. In a shocking reversal the Knicks fought back and won the last three games of the series, bouncing the stunned Celtics from the playoffs. Head coach Jimmy Rodgers was fired following the playoff disappointment.
McHale contemplated retirement in the off-season after having another surgery performed on his balky right ankle, but he came back for the 1990–91 season. Boston paired young backcourt players Lewis, Dee Brown, Kevin Gamble
Kevin Gamble
Kevin Douglas Gamble is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. At 6'5" he played as both a shooting guard and small forward...
and Brian Shaw—back from his year in Europe—with Bird, McHale and Parish and hired Chris Ford
Chris Ford
Christopher Joseph Ford is a former professional basketball player and head coach. A 6-foot-5 guard, he played high school basketball at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, New Jersey,...
, a longtime assistant coach and member of the Celtics' 1981 championship team, to be its head coach.
The season got off to a promising start as Boston sprinted to a 29–5 record, but the Celtics were soon slowed by injuries to McHale (ankle) and Bird (back). McHale missed 14 regular season games and Bird 22, as the Celtics limped to a 27–21 record over the last three months of the season. Boston defeated the Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
in five games in a hotly-contested first round playoff matchup, but for the third time in four years the Celtics were eliminated by Detroit, this time in a six-game semi-final series.
McHale played in a career-low 56 games and Bird played in just 45, as each suffered through an injury-plagued 1991–92 season
1991-92 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls*Rookie of the Year: Larry Johnson, Charlotte Hornets*Defensive Player of the Year: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs...
. Boston struggled for most of the regular season but got hot as the playoffs approached, winning 15 of its last 16 games and finishing with 51 wins, the third-most in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics swept the Pacers in the first round, but were defeated in seven games in the conference semi-finals by the younger, quicker Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
. Bird retired from the NBA three months later.
The 1992–93 season was McHale's last in the NBA. McHale played in 71 games, but he was severely hampered by leg and back injuries. He averaged just 10.7 points per game and shot less than 50 percent from the floor (45.9%) for the only time in his career.
In the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Charlotte Hornets the Celtics were stunned by the loss of Lewis, their leading scorer. He collapsed on the court during Game 1 and was diagnosed with what eventually proved to be a fatal heart condition. McHale performed brilliantly in the series. He averaged 19.6 points per game and shot 58 percent from the field—including 30 points and 10 rebounds in Game 2—but Boston fell to the Hornets in four games.
McHale announced his retirement while talking with reporters at the scorer's table after the Game 4 loss in Charlotte.
Legacy
McHale was a part of what some consider the league's best-ever frontline with small forwardSmall forward
The small forward, or colloquially known as three, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically somewhat shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers, but on occasion are just as tall...
Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
and center
Center (basketball)
The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...
Robert Parish
Robert Parish
Robert Lee Parish is a retired American basketball center. He was known for his strong defense and jump shooting, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003...
. The trio of Hall of Famers became known as the "Big Three" and led the Celtics to five NBA Finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
appearances and three NBA Championships, in 1981
1980-81 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz*Coach of the Year: Jack McKinney, Indiana Pacers*All-NBA First Team:**Larry Bird, Boston Celtics...
, 1984
1983-84 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
and 1986
1985-86 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs...
. For the first five years of his career McHale primarily came off the bench for the Celtics, winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's most valuable player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute . A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout...
in 1984 and 1985.
Possessing a wide variety of offensive moves close to the basket the agile, long-armed McHale played in seven National Basketball Association All-Star Game
National Basketball Association All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association staged its first All-Star Game in the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951. From that year on, the game has matched the best players in the Eastern Conference with the best players in the Western Conference....
s between 1984 and 1991. McHale's finest season came in 1986–87 when he was named to the All-NBA First Team as a forward. He led the NBA in field goal percentage in 1987
1986-87 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:* Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers* Rookie of the Year: Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers* Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers...
and 1988
1987-88 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls*Rookie of the Year: Mark Jackson, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls...
, shooting 60.4 percent each season. Also a standout defensive player, McHale was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First or Second Team six times. He twice blocked nine shots in a game, the most ever by a Boston Celtics' player (blocked shots did not become an official NBA statistic until the 1974 season
1973-74 NBA season
The 1973–74 NBA season was the 28th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.- Notable occurrences :...
).
In 971 regular season games McHale averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds and in 169 post-season games averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
At the end of the 2007–2008 season
2007-08 NBA season
The 2007–08 NBA season was the 62nd season of the National Basketball Association. The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, and ended on Wednesday, April 16, 2008...
McHale ranked tenth in NBA history in career field goal percentage (55.4%), and he is among the Celtics' career leaders in several categories, including games played, points scored and rebounding.
McHale's number 32
32 (number)
32 is the natural number following 31 and preceding 33.-In mathematics:32 is the smallest number n with exactly 7 solutions to the equation φ = n...
jersey was retired by the Celtics on January 30, 1994, during a halftime ceremony at the Boston Garden http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/RetiredNumbers.html.
He was chosen one of the NBA's fifty greatest players and was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
The 50 Greatest Players in National Basketball Association History were chosen in 1996 to honor the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association...
in 1996.
McHale was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Regular season
|-| align="left" | 1980–81
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 82 || 1 || 20.1 || .533 || .000 || .679 || 4.4 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 1.8 || 10.0
|-
| align="left" | 1981–82
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 82 || 33 || 28.4 || .531 || .000 || .754 || 6.8 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 2.3 || 13.6
|-
| align="left" | 1982–83
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 82 || 13 || 28.6 || .541 || .000 || .717 || 6.7 || 1.3 || 0.4 || 2.3 || 14.1
|-
| align="left" | 1983–84
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 82 || 10 || 31.4 || .556 || .333 || .765 || 7.4 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 1.5 || 18.4
|-
| align="left" | 1984–85
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 79 || 31 || 33.6 || .570 || .000 || .760 || 9.0 || 1.8 || 0.4 || 1.5 || 19.8
|-
| align="left" | 1985–86
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 68 || 62 || 35.3 || .574 || .000 || .776 || 8.1 || 2.7 || 0.4 || 2.8 || 21.3
|-
| align="left" | 1986–87
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 77 || 77 || 39.7 || .604 || .000 || .836 || 9.9 || 2.6 || 0.5 || 2.2 || 26.1
|-
| align="left" | 1987–88
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 64 || 63 || 37.3 || .604 || .000 || .797 || 8.4 || 2.7 || 0.4 || 1.4 || 22.6
|-
| align="left" | 1988–89
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 78 || 74 || 36.9 || .546 || .000 || .818 || 8.2 || 2.2 || 0.3 || 1.2 || 22.5
|-
| align="left" | 1989–90
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 82 || 25 || 33.2 || .549 || .333 || .893 || 8.3 || 2.1 || 0.4 || 1.9 || 20.9
|-
| align="left" | 1990–91
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 68 || 10 || 30.4 || .553 || .405 || .829 || 7.1 || 1.9 || 0.4 || 2.1 || 18.4
|-
| align="left" | 1991–92
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 56 || 1 || 30.4 || .509 || .000 || .822 || 5.9 || 1.5 || 0.2 || 1.1 || 13.9
|-
| align="left" | 1992–93
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 71 || 0 || 30.4 || .459 || .111 || .841 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 0.8 || 10.7
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" | ...
| 971 || 400 || 31.0 || .554 || .261 || .798 || 7.3 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 1.7 || 17.9
Playoffs
|-| align="left" | 1980–81
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 17 || ... || 18.1 || .540 || .000 || .639 || 3.5 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 1.5 || 8.5
|-
| align="left" | 1981–82
| align="left" | Boston
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
| 12 || ... || 22.0 || .575 || .000 || .755 || 7.1 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 2.3 || 16.2
|-
Front office work
Upon his retirement as an NBA player, McHale joined the Minnesota TimberwolvesMinnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
as a television analyst and special assistant. In the summer of 1994, new Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor
Glen Taylor
Glen A. Taylor is an American businessman who is the majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team, owner of the Minnesota Lynx WNBA basketball team, and a former member of the Minnesota Senate.-Biography:...
promoted him to Assistant General Manager. He continued to broadcast Timberwolves games and work as an executive until 1995, when he succeeded Jack McCloskey
Jack McCloskey
John William "Jack" McCloskey is a retired American basketball player, coach and executive in the NBA. He served in World War II as a lieutenant commanding a landing ship for Marines. He played one game for the Philadelphia Warriors during the 1953 season, scoring 6 points in that game...
as Vice President of Basketball Operations, where one of his first moves was to hire former University of Minnesota teammate Flip Saunders
Flip Saunders
Phillip "Flip" Saunders is an American basketball head coach of the Washington Wizards. He previously coached the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves.-High school and college player:Saunders was born in Cincinnati, Ohio....
as head coach of the Timberwolves.
The next season McHale made the decision to draft high school phenom forward Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Maurice Garnett is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association . After a high school basketball career at Farragut Career Academy which included winning a national player of the year award, he...
with the fifth overall pick of the 1995 NBA Draft
1995 NBA Draft
The 1995 NBA Draft took place on June 28, 1995 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies...
. Though Garnett developed into one of the NBA's best players, the Timberwolves advanced past the first round of the Western Conference playoffs only once in Garnett's twelve seasons with the team.
It was also during McHale's reign that the Timberwolves were punished by the NBA for making a secret deal with free agent forward Joe Smith to circumvent the league's salary cap rules. Before the 1998–99 season, Smith agreed in secret to sign three one-year contracts with the Timberwolves for less than his market value. In return, Smith received a promise that the Timberwolves would give him a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract before the 2001–02 season.
In 2000, after word of the secret agreement got out, NBA commissioner David Stern
David Stern
David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...
voided Smith's final one-year contract with the Timberwolves, making Smith a free agent. Stern also took away three of the Timberwolves' next five first-round draft picks and fined the team $3.5 million. Smith signed with Detroit for one season, but came back to Minnesota before the 2001–2002 season as a free agent.
On February 12, 2005, the Timberwolves fired Saunders and McHale took on head coaching duties for the remainder of the 2004–05 season
2004-05 NBA season
The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association . It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating defending champion Detroit Pistons 4–3 in the NBA Finals....
. He compiled a 19–12 record but had no interest in continuing as head coach. Dwane Casey
Dwane Casey
Dwane Casey is a former NCAA basketball player and coach who currently is a head coach in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors.-Early years:Casey was born in Morganfield, Kentucky, and graduated from Union County High School in 1975....
was hired as the new head coach in the off-season of 2005.
With Minnesota sitting at .500 midway through the 2006–07 season, McHale fired Casey on January 23, 2007. Timberwolves' assistant coach Randy Wittman
Randy Wittman
Randy Scott Wittman is a retired American basketball player, in the guard position, and former coach of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.-College:...
was tabbed to take over for Casey. Despite missing the playoffs, on April 19, 2007, the Timberwolves announced that McHale would return for the 2007–08 season
2007-08 NBA season
The 2007–08 NBA season was the 62nd season of the National Basketball Association. The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, and ended on Wednesday, April 16, 2008...
, as would Wittman. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/04/19/wolves.mchale.wittman.ap
Prior to the 2007 NBA Draft
2007 NBA Draft
The 2007 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2007 at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. It was broadcast on television in 115 countries. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U.S...
McHale reportedly tried to work out a trade with Celtics General Manager and former teammate Danny Ainge
Danny Ainge
Daniel Ray "Danny" Ainge is an American basketball manager and retired professional basketball and baseball player, currently serving as President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics....
that would have sent Kevin Garnett to Boston for a draft pick and players. Garnett's agent told the Timberwolves and the Celtics that his client had no interest in playing for Boston, and the potential trade was scuttled. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2912075 In late July 2007, Minnesota and Boston once again tried to consummate a deal for Garnett. Garnett eased his stance on being traded to Boston; on July 31 he was sent to the Celtics for five players and two first-round draft picks. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2956103 http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070730 Garnett finished third in the MVP balloting and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in leading Boston to the NBA Championship over the Lakers.
Coaching
On December 8, 2008, the Timberwolves fired Wittman. He had compiled a 38–105 record since taking over for Casey. The Timberwolves announced that McHale would step down as VP of Basketball Operations and once again take over the head coaching job, this time more permanently; the Timberwolves' owner Glen TaylorGlen Taylor
Glen A. Taylor is an American businessman who is the majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team, owner of the Minnesota Lynx WNBA basketball team, and a former member of the Minnesota Senate.-Biography:...
at the time indicated that he was not seeking to replace McHale as head coach. On June 17, 2009, however, it was announced that McHale would not return as the Timberwolves' head coach for the 2009–2010 season. On June 1, 2011, McHale became the head coach for the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
, replacing Rick Adelman
Rick Adelman
Richard Leonard "Rick" Adelman is an American former basketball professional player and current basketball coach. He is the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. Confirmation of the hiring came from the Timberwolves on September 13, 2011...
.
McHale is one of six members of the 1985–1986 Celtics' championship team to serve as an NBA head coach (Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Sam Vincent
Sam Vincent (basketball)
James Samuel "Sam" Vincent is a retired American professional basketball player and the former head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2008 Sam was named the head coach of the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Developmental league.Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the...
and Rick Carlisle
Rick Carlisle
Richard Preston Carlisle is the head coach of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He has also coached the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, and was previously a player in the NBA. He is also one of the only 11 people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.-Playing career:Carlisle...
are the others).
TV Analyst
Kevin McHale began working for TNT and NBA TV as an analyst during the 2009–2010 season. He occasionally appeared on NBA on TNT in the studio and called a few regular season and playoff games for the station.McHale was also a part of the studio team for NBA TV's Fan Night broadcasts on Tuesday nights during the season, along with Ernie Johnson
Ernie Johnson
Ernie Johnson may refer to:*Ernie Johnson *Ernie Johnson , running back at UCLA*Ernie Johnson **Ernie Johnson, Jr. , son and sports commentator...
and Chris Webber
Chris Webber
Mayce Edward Christopher "Chris" Webber, III , nicknamed C-Webb, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, a former All-NBA First Teamer, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former #1 overall NBA Draftee...
. Kevin McHale also called games for the station during the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League.
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders