The Boston Celtics are the last team to win an NBA Championship without any players on it that were drafted. Here is a list of all the players who played in the 1984 final game and their record with each Boston player they played against that year if they ended up playing for them
Kevin McHale was the most dependable player on the 1984 Boston Celtics Championship team. He averaged 10 points per game, and he shot 44% from three-point range. Read more in detail here: kevin mchale nba.
Early in his career, Kevin McHale was spoilt. He found a way to contribute right immediately off the bench after being taken third overall in the 1980 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. As a rookie, the 6-foot-10 forward from the University of Minnesota made it to the NBA Finals.
McHale and the Celtics faced the Los Angeles Lakers again three years later. In addition to McHale, Boston had a plethora of talent, including Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Cedric Maxwell, and Dennis Johnson. Any of them may carry the squad on any given night.
While any of those guys might stand out, according to McHale, there was one Mr. Reliable.
With the Boston Celtics, Kevin McHale won three championships.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – 1982: Kevin McHale #32 of the Boston Celtics attempts a shot against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the 1982 NBA Playoffs. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images/Focus on Sport)
McHale was a member of what is widely considered to be the finest NBA frontcourt of all time. The Celtics possessed the top choice in the NBA Draft before to the 1980-81 season, but they traded it along with another first-round pick to the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics obtained the third overall selection in that draft as well as Robert Parish in return. The Celtics picked McHale with the third overall selection.
Parish and McHale teamed up with Larry Bird, a second-year phenom who had recently earned Rookie of the Year honors. They won the 1981 NBA Finals in their first season together, defeating the Houston Rockets.
Bird and Parish were both starters in the frontcourt, which also featured Maxwell. As the Celtics defeated the Rockets in six games in the 1981 Finals, Maxwell was named MVP.
In his debut NBA season, McHale started 81 of the 82 games he appeared in. As a rookie, he averaged 10.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in 20.1 minutes. In reality, for the first five years of his career, McHale was a backup to Maxwell, including the 1984 season, when he won his second championship with the club.
The Celtics traded Maxwell to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Bill Walton before to the 1985-86 season. With Bird and Parish in the starting lineup, McHale replaced Maxwell in the starting lineup, giving Boston a formidable frontcourt. Bird famously remarked that his Celtics squad could compete with any club from any period. They went on to win the title by defeating the Lakers.
According to Kevin McHale, there was one star on the 1984 team who was the most trustworthy.
When Maxwell invited his old teammate on The Cedric Maxwell Podcast in March, McHale and Maxwell reconnected. They spoke about their experiences as teammates throughout their two championship seasons. They also spoke about their 1984 championship, when they didn’t play their best but still beat the Lakers.
McHale also said the one guy on the team who you know what you’re going to get from him every night. He spoke about how hard workouts were, with players yelling at one another, but how by game night, they were all one big happy family.
“We were all on the same page when the game began,” McHale said.
“I’d want to make a comment regarding Robert” (Parish). Robert may have been the most disciplined, never making a mistake and always being in the perfect place. He was incredible. That guy was always simply doing his job defensively. He was simply so solid offensively.
“Robert reminded me like a clock. You just rile him up and send him out into the world. He was going to score 18 to 22 points and get 10 to 12 rebounds, and he wasn’t going to make any mistakes. In the third row, he wasn’t tossing the ball. Simply said, he’s a fantastic and reliable individual. I had the privilege of playing with him for 12 years.
He was just fantastic, and he was so trustworthy. We were all reliant on one another on that 1984 squad. In Game 7, you (Maxwell) became very hot. The ball was going to the first person who became heated. We had a number of players capable of scoring 15 to 18 points in a quarter. How many times have we had nothing but a 17-point quarter from one player to keep us in the game?”
Playing with the Lakers in 1984, according to McHale and Maxwell, was a game changer.
The Celtics and the Lakers dominated the 1980s. At least one of the Celtics or Lakers reached the NBA Finals every year of the decade. They competed against each other in 1984, 1985, and 1987.
“Great was basketball when we faced the Lakers in 1984,” Maxwell remarked, “but I don’t believe it got much better than that seven-game series.” The battling, the physicality, the thinking, the art of saying s***. As much as I enjoyed it when we defeated Houston, I always believed it was even better when we defeated the Lakers due to the character of the two teams and a player we admired. Kareem was a favorite of yours and mine. We were Kareem aficionados. James Worthy was someone we despised.”
McHale revealed his feelings for Kareem before attempting to be diplomatic about Worthy, but Maxwell was having none of it.
McHale stated, “Kareem was fantastic.” “It’s amazing that he isn’t named every time they say the greatest player ever.” Worthy, who is a fantastic person. I met him, and he’s a wonderful guy…”
Maxwell interjected, “Guy’s an a**hole.” “He’s a complete jerk.”
The Celtics versus. Lakers rivalry seems to be still going strong over 40 years later.
RELATED: James Worthy Recalls Losing in the 1984 NBA Finals to Larry Bird and the Celtics: ‘Probably Should Have Beaten the Celtics Three Times’
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