Kevin McHale
Teams
Boston Celtics - 1980-93
Playoffs
Appearances - 13 (1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993)
Conference Finals - 7 (1981,1982,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988)
NBA Finals - 5 (1981,1984,1985,1986,1987)
Championships - 3 (1981,1984,1986)
Awards and Honors
All-NBA First Team - 1 (1987)
All-NBA Second Team - 0 (1987)
Sixth Man of the Year - 2 (1984,1985)
Hall of Fame - 1999
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Field Goal Percentage - #22
Total Blocks - #31
Blocks Per Game - #36
Total Points - #93
League Leads
Field Goal Percentage (#1-1987,1988, #5-1986)
Total Blocks (#4-1983)
Free Throw Percentage (#5-1990)
Blocks Per Game (#5-1983)
After averaging 17.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as a senior at Minnesota, Kevin McHale was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the #3 overall pick in the 1980 Draft. They originally held the #1 pick, but they traded it to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Robert Parish and the #3 pick, which turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades in history.
The Celtics had Cedric Maxwell at power forward, so McHale came off the bench for the first several years of his career. McHale averaged 10 points per game in the regular season, but he was given less time in the playoffs, averaging only 4.7 per game in the Finals, but he came away with a championship as a rookie.
McHale made some improvement over the next couple years, averaging 14.1 per game in his third season, but after the team fired coach Bill Fitch, McHale decided to leave the team to sign with the Knicks. The Celtics retaliated by offering contracts to 3 Knicks players, and New York withdrew their offer, and McHale resigned with the Celtics.
That next season, McHale was named the Sixth Man of the year after averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds, and the Celtics finished with the league's best record. They reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 3 years, facing the Lakers, and after a hard foul late in Game 4 by McHale turned the momentum, the Celtics won the series in 7 games.
McHale increased his averages to 19.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game the next season, and was a repeat winner of the Sixth Man award. He became a starter late in the season after Maxwell was injured, and within a month set a new Celtics scoring record with 56 points in a game, a record which was broken 9 days later by Larry Bird. They reached the Finals again, but this time fell to the Lakers, with McHale leading the Celtics with 26.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
Before the next season, Maxwell was traded away, and McHale became a full-time starter, and the Celtics had one of the greatest seasons of all time, winning 50 of 51 home games in the regular season and playoffs, and McHale led the team in scoring in the Finals once again, averaging 25.8 per game as the Celtics beat the Rockets in 6 games.
McHale had his best season the next year. He career-highs with 26.1 points and 9.9 rebounds and was named to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team while also leading the league in field goal percentage at .604. He also became the first player ever to shoot over 60% from the field and 80% from the line in the same season. He broke a bone in his foot late in the season, but played through the injury, and Boston was able to reach their 4th straight Finals, but with Parish, Bill Walton, and Danny Ainge also injured, the Celtics fell to the Lakers.
After having foot surgery, McHale missed the first month of the next season, but was back in top form when he returned, leading the league in field goal percentage once again with an identical .604 average. The Celtics reached the Conference Finals for the 5th straight year, but fell to the Detroit Pistons in the last deep playoff run for this version of the Celtics dynasty.
Bird missed most of the next season with several injuries, and the Celtics were only able to reach the second round behind McHale's 22.5 points per game. McHale came off the bench most of the time in his final 4 seasons, and his scoring average dropped slowly each season, from 20.9 in 1990 to 10.7 in 1993, when he announced his retirement right after the team was eliminated from the playoffs.
McHale spent much of his prime coming off the bench, which limited his production somewhat, but he still made contributions to 2 title teams early in his career. He was the second-best player on the team for the next several years, which included 3 Finals appearances and another championship, and was one of the best players in the league for that one season before injuries started to slow him down. All taken together, he definitely belongs among the greatest players of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment