10.24.2018

McHale already Top-10 Player

11/30/82

McHale Already One of the NBA's Best

He looks as if he's always wearing a coat hanger inside his warmup jacket. He plays R.P. McMurphy to Bill Fitch's Nurse Ratched. He's not a member of the Celtics starting lineup, but gets more minutes than all but three of his teammates. And with the possible exception of a Charles Bradley two-handed tomahawk or a Larry Bird blindside pass, his shot blocking stirs the nightly 15,320 like nothing else.



He is Kevin McHale, a 24-year-old, 6-foot-10 leaper with untapped resources and a boundless future. Rival coaches cringe when he unfolds off the bench and trots to the check-in table. Atlanta's Kevin Loughery says McHale is already one of the 10 best players in the league.

It makes you wonder . . . What is Kevin McHale worth? In a league plagued by disinterest and disparity, how much would a white superstar mean to a sagging franchise in search of victories, attendance and television contracts?

Moses Malone will make $13.2 million over the next six years, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Otis Birdsong and Jack Sikma are all toiling for a million a year or more. The star salary level in the NBA is about $800,000. Ordinary people like James Edwards and Mitch Kupchak take that home without any guilt.

"It's a joke that people are paid $750,000 a year to play basketball," admits McHale, who will be 25 when he becomes a free agent at the end of this season. "My dad just about died when I told him that. He's Paul A., my main man. He retired last Friday after 42 years of mining, and I'm turning down offers which would be more than he could have made in his whole life at the mine."

McHale and money are an odd mix. "The things I enjoy most don't require a lot of money," he says. "I'm jealous of my brother because he gets to hunt and camp and go cross-country skiing and I can't do any of those things now. I think my life would be just as happy without a lot of money. I'd probably be in sales or business or something."

Instead, he is a shot-blocking forward/center with the arms of a man 7-2, rare jumping ability, and an unstoppable turnaround jump shot. He is also in the final year of a three-year contract, and if the Celtics don't sign him by the time the playoffs end, McHale will start considering offers from teams around the NBA. His worth will be dictated by hungry franchises in an open market. If the Knicks, for instance, decide he is worth $1.2 million per year and McHale signs the offer, Boston will have 15 days to: 1. match the offer and keep him; 2. match the offer and trade him, or 3. let him go for nothing.

"Isn't that the free enterprise system at its best?," he asks with a laugh.

Seattle-based agent John Sandquist represents McHale. Before the start of the season, McHale said that if the Celtics did not extend his contract by opening day, he would not negotiate until after the playoffs. He would test the waters. However, he talked at some length with owner Harry Mangurian recently and now says, "I shouldn't say we won't talk at all. I think there'll be one more meeting, maybe next month."

"We might have a few more discussions," admits general manager Red Auerbach.

Good idea. If the Celtics leave it to Gulf & Western (owners of the Knicks) or Dr. Jerry Buss (Laker owner) to set the standards, McHale's price could go much higher. He is rumored to be asking for a three-year deal worth $900,000 per year from the Celtics. With Larry Bird in the on-deck circle (Bird's five-year contract is up at the end of next season), Mangurian has his hands full.

"I will take less to play in Boston," says McHale. "I love Boston. We have a good blend here. We have a bunch of fun-loving guys, and everybody is a good player, which helps."

McHale is from Hibbing, Minn. Folks there don't know much about greed, but they know what's fair. "If everybody in the NBA was making $50,000, I'd take my $50,000 and be very happy," he says. "But when you look around and see what other guys are getting, you say, Where do I fit into that scheme?' "

He probably already knows. Ask him if any teams have already expressed interest in his services (which would be a clear violation of league tampering rules) and McHale says "no comment."

He insists that his relationship with Fitch won't have any bearing on the decision. McHale and Fitch are natural antagonists. Watching them is a little bit like watching Bill Lee work for Dick Williams.

"I'd like to put some things to rest about coach Fitch and me," McHale says. "If I told you I love him every single day, I'd be lying; and if he told you he loved me every single day, he'd be lying. We've had our differences in the past, but basically it's as good as any coach-player relationship. Sometimes when he yells at me I'll yell back, but I feel bad about it after. It's been blown way out of proportion.

"I can't take things too seriously," he adds. "How serious is basketball? What value does my job hold? It's entertainment. We're overpaid. It's ridiculous."

True, true and true. But as long as NBA players are going to be overpaid, Celtic fans have to hope there's enough Celtic green to keep McHale in Celtic Green for a few more years.

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