“If you double-teamed him, he thought he could get four points if he scored” – Danny Ainge on how Kevin McHale used to wave off his Celtics teammates on offense originally appeared on Basketball Network.
In the NBA, it’s often only after changing teams that players fully realize the greatness of their former teammates. That was precisely the case for Danny Ainge, who, despite playing alongside Kevin McHale for years, didn’t truly grasp his dominance until he had to face him on the opposing team. Even though McHale was in the latter stage of his career, Ainge marvelled at how no defensive scheme, be it in Sacramento, Portland, or Phoenix, effectively slows the two-time Sixth Man of the Year down.
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Interestingly, those realizations only made him contemplate what a nightmare McHale would’ve been, even for the best defenders, during his prime.
“Sometimes when you play against a person, you appreciate them even more,” Ainge recalled. “When I traveled and played with a few different teams against Kevin, we’d go through the scouting report, and we’d walk through how we’re going to defend him. I hear coaches say things like, ‘Fake the double teams. Wait till he puts it on the floor.’ I always had to step in and say, ‘No! Wait a minute.’”
Danny Ainge on Kevin McHale’s basketball philosophy
Even though Ainge came into the league just a year after McHale, by the time he joined the Boston Celtics, “Black Hole” had already cemented his authority on the team. McHale was no ordinary player coming off the bench, but his 6’10” frame, along with incredibly long arms, allowed him to have all the tools to dominate the post. But what elevated him from good to nearly unguardable was the evolution of his offensive arsenal.
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With his iconic up-and-under jumper, head fakes, and turnaround fades, McHale appeared to be unstoppable on the block. So, when the opposition teams threw the kitchen sink at trying to double-team him, McHale never faltered; instead, he thrived. On the other hand, Ainge would naturally demand the ball to ease the pressure and look for an easy scoring opportunity, and McHale would jokingly mock his own teammates.
For “The Herman Munster” had his teammates, like Ainge, possess such scoring versatility like he did, defenders would rather try to stop them and never let them be open in games.
“Kevin had this philosophy that if you double-teamed him, he thought you could get four points if he scored. I’d say, ‘Kevin, my man is right on you. I’m wide open, my man’s guarding you. Pass me the ball.’ He’d say, ‘Tell your man to guard you then.’ I’d go up to him and say, ‘Kevin, my and DJ’s man are both on you.’ He’d say, ‘I should get six points for scoring that,’” Ainge continued. “He had a great perspective on the game.”
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Danny Ainge saw the prime of Kevin McHale firsthand
Whether it was winning back-to-back Sixth Man of the Year awards, setting a Celtics franchise record with 56 points in a single game, or leading the team in scoring during the 1986 NBA Finals, Ainge had a courtside view of McHale’s rise to Celtics greatness. And unlike many who only appreciated McHale in hindsight, Ainge saw firsthand how much the team relied on him to carry the scoring burden when it mattered most.
So, while McHale might have never received the recognition he deserved, such admissions only shed light on his true terror in the league, that too, until his last playing days.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.