Kevin McHale wasn’t just part of the Big Three. He was the piece that made the whole thing work. Bird was the genius. Parish was the anchor. But McHale was the matchup nightmare that turned Boston’s front line into something the league had never seen before. Without him, the Big Three isn’t the Big Three. It’s just Bird and Parish with a missing limb.
What’s wild is how often he gets ignored now. Modern Celtics fans talk about Bird like he carried the entire decade on his back, and they treat McHale like he was some nice supporting character instead of the guy who put half the league in the torture chamber. He was the one opponents dreaded. He was the one Barkley and Olajuwon openly admitted they couldn’t guard. He was the one who could drop 30 on you without breaking a sweat or saying a word.
And yet today he’s underrated to the point of being invisible. It’s a shame, because if you actually watched those games, you know the truth. Bird was the mind. Parish was the balance. McHale was the weapon. The Big Three doesn’t exist without him, and the Celtics dynasty doesn’t look the same without the guy with the thousand moves and the coldest post game Boston ever saw.
McHale wasn’t optional. He was the hinge the whole machine swung on, and pretending otherwise is lazy revisionism. Bird and Parish were incredible, but the frontcourt didn’t become historic until McHale stepped into it. The fact that so many Celtics fans barely talk about him now is a fucking shame. If you actually watched those games, you know exactly who terrified opponents the most.
And the opponents themselves said it best:
Charles Barkley:
“Kevin McHale was the toughest guy I ever had to guard. He had every move in the book.”
Hakeem Olajuwon:
“McHale had the best footwork I ever saw from a big man.”
Kurt Rambis:
“Guarding McHale was like trying to stop a man with eight arms.”
Bill Laimbeer:
“You couldn’t stop McHale. You could only hope he got tired.”
James Worthy:
“McHale was impossible. If you took away one move, he had three more.”
Dominique Wilkins:
“A man with a thousand moves.”
Robert Horry:
“If you want to learn the post, you study Kevin McHale. Everyone did.”
Shaquille O’Neal:
“McHale had the coldest post game ever. Nobody could guard that.”
Magic Johnson:
“Boston had the greatest front line ever with Bird, McHale, and Parish.”
Pat Riley:
“That frontcourt was a nightmare. You couldn’t match up with all three at once.”
Bill Walton:
“Playing with Bird, McHale, and Parish was like playing with basketball royalty.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:
“Their front line was the most fundamentally sound I ever played against.”
Isiah Thomas:
“You couldn’t double one of them because the other two would kill you.”
Tom Heinsohn:
“The greatest frontcourt in NBA history. No debate.”
Red Auerbach:
“They were perfect together. Each one covered the other’s weaknesses.”
James Worthy:
“You had to pick your poison. Bird’s mind, McHale’s moves, Parish’s consistency.”
Hubie Brown:
“The most complete frontcourt the league has ever seen.”
About the Big Three, Bird, McHale, Parish:
Clyde Drexler:
“They played like they shared one brain. Impossible to disrupt.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated before being approved. Trolls and spammers are not welcome and will not be approved. Anonymous comments are okay, unless troll shit or spam.