Top 100 NBA Players: #46

Kevin McHale

(Kalb: #34, Simmons: #35, BBR: #48)

Today is the second straight day in which a Celtic big man claims a spot among the top 50 players of all time. McHale was a major part of the Celtics dynasty of the 1980's, but he was never the star player, because Larry Bird was his teammate during his entire peak.

McHale made it at least to the Conference Finals 7 times in his 13-year career, winning three championships along the way. He was twice a top 3 player on a Conference Finalist, twice a top 3 player on an NBA Finalist, and once the #2 player on a champion, the 1986 Celtics. He was a great player, but he was never known as a superstar, although there were signs that he could have become one.

In 1987, McHale hit his peak in almost every statistical category, was named to the All-NBA First Team, and came in 4th in the MVP voting. Those aren't things that are normally associated with lesser stars, and it proves that he had the skills of a superstar, but was willing to defer to a more talented teammate in order to be more successful. Here are his stats from that monster season:

McHale - 26.1 pts, 9.9 reb, 2.6 ast, 2.2 blk, .604 FG%, .836 FT%

Only his free throw percentage and assist average were not career highs, and his field goal percentage led the entire league, the first of two straight seasons in which he did that. Unfortunately, he faded in the playoffs, averaging only 21.1 points and shooting only .762 from the free throw line, and the Celtics lost in the Finals to the rival Lakers.

Cowens' early years and McHale's later years basically cancel each other out, and both peaked out at almost the exact same level. Cowens gets some help from being the best player on a championship team, but McHale was a top player on more teams that made deep playoff runs. McHale gets the edge for being a star player for just one season longer than Cowens, but the two are basically dead even.