Collegiate Times

The Collegiate Times got a chance to talk with former Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale last month at ESPN the Weekend in Orlando, Fla. McHale played 13 seasons with the Celtics, winning the 1986 NBA Championship. He is the former head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On the Carmelo Anthony trade:

MCHALE: I don’t think it’s unnatural for a bunch of guys to come together, but I’d like to see it happen through the draft, with young guys playing together. It’s kind of like everyone is a free agent now, they define where they go. I understand that, but personally I didn’t like the way it was handled. I especially didn’t like this Carmelo Anthony thing with the way it went on all year. I think it affected the Nuggets.

On how Lebron James handled free agency:

MCHALE: The whole ‘Decision’ with LeBron, I think that when LeBron decided to come to Miami, he should have done it the old fashioned way and come in and done a press conference and called Cleveland first to say ‘Hey, I decided to go to Miami.’ If he had done that, it would have been looked at a little bit differently, as a different type situation.

Am I opposed to it? No, because you’re a free agent and you can play anywhere you want, but I have a fear that small markets, they’re gonna have a heck of a time holding onto their top players, unless something’s done to have a franchise tag. 

On Dwight Howard’s foul troubles:

MCHALE: You know, you can be a big guy, but two things: I see him making silly fouls early in the game and the technical fouls. You can’t afford to be suspended coming down the stretch for his team, so you’ve got to have some discipline. 

There are times when discretion may be the better part of valor.  You just maybe have to let a guy get a layup and not foul him and live to fight another day later on in the game, but I think he’s developed into a very impressive player and he’s getting better all the time. 

On the 25th anniversary of the ’86 Celtics:

MCHALE: First of all, I can’t believe it’s the 25th anniversary of that team. It was a great team and it was so much fun being with Robert Parish and Larry Bird, and there was no doubt in my mind that it would be a championship team, and we just exploded.

On his friends among his opponents:

MCHALE: I really didn’t have any at that time. Once the game started it had to be all business, and I liked to have a line between “us” and “them.” 

Now that we’re all retired, it’s nice how we can all get friendly and it’s good to see them at events like the ESPN weekend. But, saying that, Charles Barkley is a good friend and has been for years, and also Steve Smith.

A version of this article appeared in the Apr 8 issue of the Collegiate Times.