7.20.2012

McHale at it Again (Subtitled "Kevin McHale and the Battle of 17-16")

I'll say this for Kevin McHale:

His tenure with the Celtics may have started out on shakey ground (almost ditching the Celtics for Italy before ever signing his first contract, and then signing an offer sheet with the Knicks a few years later), but there is no longer any doubts what color this man bleeds.

You may recall the summer of 2007. Kevin Garnett was on the market, and the Lakers were making a hard push for him. McHale didn't own the Timberwolves. Thus, he wasn't calling all the shots. What McHale could do, however, was simple math.

As in 16-14, which was the score at that point in the multi-decade Battle Royale known as Purple versus Green. Had the Ls gotten Garnett, anyone venture a guess how many titles they would have racked up by now? Hell, they won two without him.

Luckily, the Celtics won one. Then again, it wasn't all that lucky, since McHale basically handed Garnett to us on a silver platter.

Fast forward to this summer.

Now the score is 17-16, and the Lakers this time are pursuing Dwight Howard.

No doubt this pisses off Old Lurch.

So what does he do?

First, he does his best to interfere with the deal, making an offer for Howard himself.

That didn't work out too well.

So now he's moving to plan B.

Strengthening the Celtics in case they battle the Lakers in the Finals again next summer.

I see this as a remote possibility.

I do appreciate Herman Munster keeping us in mind, nonetheless.

Of course, you might observe that McHale isn't the Rockets GM. No he's not. But you don't think he has the GM's ear, do you? I mean, all it would take is for McHale to paint a picture of what the West would look like for the next 5-10 years with Howard in purple, and that should be enough to strike fear in even the most steely GM.

As always, we owe you, Kevin.

You are doing your best to keep the Green on the right side of the won-loss column.

5 comments:

FLCeltsFan said...

Yep, Kevin is still looking out for the C's. But then, too the Rockets would have seen Lee walk without anything but now they have a nice young big for KH to mentor and coach. So, good for both teams.

Lex said...

True.

I hear the Rockets haven't given up on Howard.

Plus, I hear either ORL or CLE wants bynum to sign an extension, and he may not agree.

FLCeltsFan said...

With Howard refusing to commit to an extension, Orlando is going to have to take the best deal they can get.

Bynum and Howard are both flakes anyway. Instant locker room problems.

Houston is hoping to do what the Nets did with Williams. Sign without a guarantee and then hope to win him over.

Lex said...

and I do believe each year Kobe is getting a bit older and his skills dwindling a bit more . . .

FLCeltsFan said...

Absolutely. I'd much rather be the Celtics than the Lakers right now. They have a 100 million payroll with a worn out superstar still having to carry the load. Also once Steve Nash gets away from that Phx training staff he may just disintegrate.