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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 with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves . EARLY LIFE McHale grew up in an Irish / Croatian household in Hibbing, Minnesota . Hockey , not basketball, was McHale's favorite sport as a youngster. But a growth spurt during high school forced McHale to give up hockey and turn his full attention to basketball. In his senior season at Hibbing High School McHale was named Minnesota 's Mr. Basketball of 1976 and lead 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. COLLEGE The 209 cm (6 ft 10 in) McHale played basketball at the Power Forward position for the University Of Minnesota from 1976 to 1980 , averaging a career 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. 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. NBA HIGHLIGHTS Drafted in the first round by the NBA's Boston Celtics in 1980 , McHale helped form 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 Fame rs 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 Game s between 1984 and 1991 and lead 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 and twice blocked nine shots in a game, the most ever by a Boston Celtics' player. For the first five years of his career McHale came off the bench for the Celtics, winning the NBA Sixth Man Of The Year Award in 1984 and 1985 . EARLY PROFESSIONAL PLAYING CAREER Heading into the 1980 NBA draft the Celtics held the number one overall pick. But in a shrewd pre-draft trade Boston Celtics President Red Auerbach dealt the pick, and an additional first-round pick, to the Golden State Warriors for Robert Parish and the Warriors' first-round pick. With the Warriors' pick, the third overall, the Celtics selected 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 Bird and Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell at forward McHale made an immediate impact and was named to the All-Rookie First Team as Boston finished with the NBA's best record. In the playoffs the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in the first round, but faced a 3-1 deficit in the Eastern Conference Final versus the Philadelphia 76ers . Boston stunned the 76ers, winning the last three games of the series, including Game 6 on Philadelphia's home court. The Celtics 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 Semi-Finals, the Celtics were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks , leading to the firing of Boston head coach Bill Fitch . Following the 1982-83 season McHale's contract with the Celtics expired, and the New York Knickerbockers signed him to a contract offer sheet. Auerbach retaliated by signing three of New York's top free agent players to offer sheets. The Knickerbockers elected to re-sign their players and give up their pursuit of McHale. McHale eventually re-signed with Boston, his $1 million a year contract making him the fourth-highest paid player in the NBA. Led by their new head coach, former Celtics' player K.C. Jones , and bolstered by the acquisition of Point Guard Dennis Johnson from the Phoenix Suns , the 1983-1984 Celtics finished with the league's best record. McHale won the first of his consecutive NBA Sixth Man Awards as Boston won the Eastern Conference title and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in seven games, the Celtics' fifteenth championship. McHale continued to come off of the bench during the 1984-1985 season, but made the most out of a rare start on , 1985 , Larry Bird broke McHale's Celtics' record by scoring 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. SWEET SIXTEEN The 1985-1986 edition of the Boston Celtics is considered one of the greatest teams in NBA history {Link without Title} . The Celtics acquired former NBA Most Valuable Player Bill Walton in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers in September 1985, and added the 209 cm (6 ft 10 in) 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 starting role. McHale joined starters Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge as the Celtics steamrolled the NBA with a league-best 67-15 record and captured the franchise's sixteenth NBA title. The team set an NBA record by finishing 82-18 (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 . 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, and 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. "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." {Link without Title} 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 points per game) and rebounding (9.9 rebounds per game). 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. Late in the 1987 regular season, McHale broke a bone in his right foot, but ignoring doctors' advice, continued to play. In the playoffs a hobbled McHale averaged 39 minutes per game connected on 58 percent of his shots as Boston once again won the Eastern Conference title with consecutive Game 7 wins versus the Bucks and Pistons. A tired and hurting Celtics team could not defend their championship, losing to the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals. Offseason surgery on his injured foot forced McHale to sit out the first month of the 1987-1988 season, but his return helped spark the Celtics to 57 wins and a fifth-straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. McHale shot 60 percent from the field and averaged a career playoff-high 25.4 points per game, but the Celtics were toppled by the Detroit Pistons 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. LATER PROFESSIONAL PLAYING CAREER Injuries limited Bird to just six games in the 1988-89 , but new head coach Jimmy Rodgers coaxed the Celtics into the playoffs behind the play of McHale and Parish. The Celtics faced the Pistons in the playoffs for the third straight year and were swept by Detroit in the first round. The 1989-90 season marked the last time McHale was healthy enough to play in all 82 regular season games for the Celtics. Bird's return from his injuries moved McHale back into his role as Boston's "sixth man". McHale provided an offensive spark for the Celtics off of the bench, but the season came to an end in the first round of the playoffs as Boston was upset by the New York Knickerbockers. Jimmy Rodgers was fired after the playoff disappointment. McHale contemplated retirement in the offseason, but came back for the 1990-91 season. Boston paired young backcourt players Reggie Lewis , Dee Brown and Brian Shaw 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 out 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. In the playoffs, Boston defeated the Indiana Pacers in five games in a hotly-contested first round matchup, but for the third time in four years was 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 1992-1993 season was McHale's last in the NBA. 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 versus the Charlotte Hornets , the Celtics were stunned by the loss of Lewis, their leading scorer, to what was eventually a fatal heart condition. McHale summoned up one last great performance, averaging 19.6 points per game and shooting 58 percent from the field in the series, but Boston fell to the Hornets in four games. McHale announced his retirement, without fanfare, while talking with reporters at the scorer's table after the Game 4 loss in Charlotte. LEGACY In 971 regular season games, McHale averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds, and in 169 postseason games averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. He ranks ninth in NBA history in career field goal percentage (55.4%) and is among the Celtics' career leaders in several categories, including games played, points scored and rebounding {Link without Title} . McHale's number 32 jersey was retired by the Celtics on January 30 , 1994 , during a halftime ceremony at the Boston Garden {Link without Title} . 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 {Link without Title} . McHale was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 {Link without Title} . POST-PLAYING CAREER Upon his retirement as an NBA player, McHale joined the Minnesota Timberwolves 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, a position he still holds. On February 12 , 2005 , the Timberwolves fired head coach Flip Saunders and McHale took over head coaching duties for the rest of the 2004-2005 Season . He compiled a 19-12 record, but had no interest in coaching at the professional level again, instead hiring Dwane Casey in the offseason of 2005. TRIVIA McHale is one of five members of the 1985-1986 Celtics' championship team to serve as an NBA head coach (Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson and Rick Carlisle are the others). McHale twice made guest appearances on the television sitcom '' Cheers '' (1990 and 1991).
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