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Kevin Edward McHale (born December 19, 1957)
is an American former professional basketball
player who starred for thirteen seasons in
the NBA for the Boston Celtics. He is
currently an executive (Vice President of
Basketball Operations) with the NBA's
Minnesota Timberwolves.
McHale was a part of what is considered one
of the league's best-ever frontlines with
small forward Larry Bird and center Robert
Parish. The trio of Hall of Famers became
known as the "Big Three" and would lead the
Celtics to five NBA Finals appearances and
three NBA Championships, in 1981, 1984 and
1986.
Possessing a wide variety of offensive moves
close to the basket the agile, long-armed
McHale played in seven National Basketball
Association All-Star Games between 1984 and
1991. 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).
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.
McHale's finest season came in 1986-87 when
he was named to the All-NBA First Team as a
forward. Heading into the 1980 NBA Draft 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 Parish and the Warriors' first-round
pick, the third overall. With that pick the
Celtics chose McHale.
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, when he
set 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 and was named the
NBA's best defensive player by the league's
coaches.
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.
As of the end of the 2006-2007 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.
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.
Tags : basketball |
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Affichage : 5980
Durée : 244 s |
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