Kevin McHale is an @$$hole, LMAO ESPN.com: What was the best McHale trash talk you heard? Bird: Kevin McHale, one time, did one of the dirtiest things anybody can do to an opposing player. He told his buddy, a college friend, a teammate (at one point) at the end of the game in Golden State we were up pretty big -- and we were just getting ready to go out of the game -- and Kevin told him when he came in, he said, "When you get the ball in the low post, you just turn and shoot it over me, and I'll just act like I'm defending you." Sure enough, they threw it in there, he turned and Kevin batted the shot about six rows up into the stands. And I mean I felt so bad for the guy, and the guy was pissed. And I went over to (Celtics coach) K.C. Jones and I said, "Get me out of here. This kid's out of control, this kid's out of control." It was the worst thing I'd ever seen on the basketball court, but that's why I remember it to this day. You don't do that to your friend (laughs). http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12549830/nba-qa-larry-bird-russell-westbrook-tanking-more
Dude was dirty way back then itself No surprise he is still using dirty underhand tactics like getting paid big money to coach. When in reality, he is not a coach. His go to move is give Harden the ball and his go to speech is "Play harder guys, clap clap"
I do wish we'd get to see the ole block into the the sixth row more often. I know it's not tactically good because it gives the ball back to the other team, but I think it's more psychologically destructive than a nasty posterizing dunk. And it just looks awesome.
Man, I didn't realize the 80's were so soft for a legendary player to call that kind of stuff dirty. Today's game a dude can kick another dude's junk, have it review and still allowed to finish the game. Now that's dirty.
I'm not surprised. This is a pretty funny story and am somewhat disappointed it wasn't Jim Petersen. That said that Boston team of the mid 80's was a dirty team. McHale, Ainge, and Parish would cheap shot people a lot. The NBA then though was also different too and the attitude towards fighting wasn't much different than it is now. In fact Tommy Heinsohn former Celtic and NBA commentator said during the famous Olajuwon vs Mitch Kupchak fight in game 5 of the 1986 WCF that both players should be allowed to stay in the game.
As a kid in the 80's who watched the NBA then the 80's were much tougher. This story is just for fun but there was a lot more dirty and violent play then than now. Just look up Bill Lambeer who was one of the dirtiest players to ever play the game yet was still considered a star.
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By the way, the McHale clothesline was just a common foul, no suspensions. It's kind of funny to think of what would happen if Kevin McHale unleashed this same clothesline on Kurt Rambis in 2013. Not only would McHale be thrown out of the game, but there would surely be huge fines and suspensions handed down, righteous indignation spouted from all angles of the media, and countless hours of conversation committed to the horror of it all. Instead, McHale was only assessed a personal foul, there were no fines or suspensions, and play resumed as normal in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals. We miss the NBA's golden era. http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/11/nba-unsportsmanlike-acts/kevin-mchale-clotheslines-kurt-rambis
My favorite McHale joke is the one where he told Damian Lillard, "Start on the right, cut to the ball around a couple of screens, catch it and put it up, and we'll only act like we're guarding you."
I remember when McHale tried to give Rambis a hug on court, but Rambis was out of control and ran straight into McHale's outstretched Huggie arms...
