With the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale Took Confidence to the Next Level

With the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale Took Confidence to the Next Level.

Even before they took the court, Kevin McHale and Larry Bird held the advantage over a large number of their rivals. The three NBA titles that the Boston Celtics teammates earned together demonstrated their mental toughness. The Boston team was not only a gifted tandem, but it was difficult to find any other players in the league with greater confidence than those two.

It’s possible that McHale was spoilt as an NBA rookie. Having recently been acquired via a trade with the Golden State Warriors, Robert Parish was a talented center, and he joined a team that included a young Bird in his first season with the Celtics. He not only connected with a bright team, but in his rookie season he also led them to a title.

In 81 of the 82 games he played in his rookie campaign, McHale came off the bench, averaging 20.1 minutes per contest. As a rookie, the 6-foot-10 Minnesota forward scored 10.0 points and pulled down 4.4 rebounds. In the end, he, Bird, and Parish would emerge as maybe the league’s best frontcourt tandem—if not the greatest in NBA history.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, respectively, to win titles in 1984 and 1986. Together, Bird and McHale played 13 NBA seasons and were selected for 19 NBA All-Star teams.

Despite his inexperience, McHale never thought the person he was covering was superior. That greatly benefited his NBA career, which he will go on to honor. He mentioned his great degree of confidence in 1991. Following his youthful teammate Dee Brown’s victory in the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, the subject was brought up.

McHale said of Brown to Sports Illustrated in 1991, “That dunk contest will be great for that kid because the one thing he lacked was confidence.” “I know Dee appears confident from the outside, but occasionally you can sense that he isn’t quite confident by the way he sticks his head out there. He talks the talk but doesn’t live up to it.