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NBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.

Kevin McHale

Power forwardNBA legend

Career at a glance

Kevin McHale played 13 NBA regular seasons between 1980 and 1993, appearing in 971 games and averaging 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He spent his whole career with Boston (1980–93, 971 games). His best scoring season was 1986–87 with Boston: 26.1 points per game over 77 games.

He rebounded best in 1986–87 at 9.9 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in field-goal percentage twice. Championship seasons: 1980–81 (Boston), 1983–84 (Boston), 1985–86 (Boston).

In the playoffs he appeared in 13 postseason runs (169 games, 18.8 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 17,300 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).

whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.

About Kevin McHale

Kevin Edward McHale (born December 19, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player, coach and analyst who played his entire professional career for the Boston Celtics. He earned the nickname "the Torture Chamber" for his exceptional footwork and wide array of post moves which made him nearly impossible to guard one-on-one. Dominique Wilkins famously called him "A Man With a Thousand Moves." He is a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and widely considered one of the greatest power forwards of all time.

After a high school career in which he was named Minnesota Mr. Basketball, he attended the University of Minnesota, where he was named to two first-team All Conference teams and set many team records that still stand today. He was then selected third overall in the 1980 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. Spending his first five seasons as the sixth man, he was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 1984 and 1985. After Cedric Maxwell was traded prior to the 1985–1986 season, McHale became a full-time starter alongside Larry Bird and center Robert Parish, where the three formed what is arguably the greatest frontcourt in NBA history. He won three NBA championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986. After earning his first All-Star selection as the Celtics’ sixth man, he went on to make six more All-Star teams as a starter for the Celtics, while also being named to six NBA All-Defensive Teams. After injuries forced his retirement following the 1992–1993 season, he was later named to both the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.

McHale began working for the Minnesota Timberwolves immediately following his retirement in 1993 (until 2009) and at times as a TV analyst, general manager and head coach. He was head coach of the Houston Rockets from 2011 to 2015 until being fired following a 4–7 start to the 2015–16 season.

Born
December 19, 1957 (age 68) Hibbing, Minnesota, U.S.
Listed height
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight
210 lb (95 kg)
Position
Power forward
High school
Hibbing (Hibbing, Minnesota)
College
Minnesota (1976–1980)
NBA draft
1980: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Playing career
1980–1993

Career highlights and awards

  • 3× NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986)
  • 7× NBA All-Star (1984, 1986–1991)
  • All-NBA First Team (1987)
  • 3× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1986–1988)
  • 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1983, 1989, 1990)
  • 2× NBA Sixth Man of the Year (1984, 1985)
  • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1981)
  • NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th)
  • No. 32 retired by Boston Celtics
  • First-team All-Big Ten (1980)
  • Second-team All-Big Ten (1979)
  • No. 44 retired by Minnesota Golden Gophers
  • Minnesota Mr. Basketball (1976)

Career statistics

NBA regular season
YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1980–81†Boston82120.1.533.000.6794.40.70.31.810.0
1981–82Boston823328.4.531.000.7546.81.10.42.313.6
1982–83Boston821328.6.541.000.7176.71.30.42.314.1
1983–84†Boston82*1031.4.556.333.7657.41.30.31.518.4
1984–85Boston793133.6.570.000.7609.01.80.41.519.8
1985–86†Boston686235.3.574.000.7768.12.70.42.821.3
1986–87Boston777739.7.604*.000.8369.92.60.52.226.1
1987–88Boston646337.3.604*.000.7978.42.70.41.422.6
1988–89Boston787436.9.546.000.8188.22.20.31.222.5
1989–90Boston82*2533.2.549.333.8938.32.10.41.920.9
1990–91Boston681030.4.553.405.8297.11.90.42.118.4
1991–92Boston56130.4.509.000.8225.91.50.21.113.9
1992–93Boston71030.4.459.111.8415.01.00.20.810.7
Career97140031.0.554.261.7987.31.70.41.717.9
All-Star7017.9.500.500.8575.31.10.11.78.7
NBA playoffs
YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1981†Boston17017.4.540.000.6393.50.80.21.58.5
1982Boston12028.7.575.000.7557.10.90.42.316.2
1983Boston7125.3.548.000.5566.00.70.41.011.1
1984†Boston23030.5.504.000.7776.21.20.11.514.8
1985Boston212139.9.568.000.8079.91.50.62.222.1
1986†Boston181839.7.579.000.7948.62.70.42.424.9
1987Boston211939.4.584.000.7629.21.90.31.421.1
1988Boston171742.1.6031.000.8398.02.40.41.825.4
1989Boston3338.3.488.000.7398.03.00.30.719.0
1990Boston5538.4.609.333.8627.82.60.42.022.0
1991Boston11134.2.527.545.8253.51.80.51.320.7
1992Boston10030.6.516.000.7957.11.30.50.516.5
1993Boston4028.3.582.000.8577.10.80.51.819.0
Career1698533.8.561.381.7887.41.60.41.718.8

Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).

Profile observation date unavailable.

Height
6′ 10″
Weight
210 lb
Position
Power forward
Jersey
Not listed
Country
USA
School / last affiliation
Not listed
Draft year
1980
Draft pick
Round 1 · Pick 3

Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.

Roster observations

These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.

No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.

Social profiles

Profile source

Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.

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