Basketbawful reader Alexandru wrote in from Romania and alerted me to Steve Aschburner's column on SI.com, in which Aschburner, while discussing the Minnesota Timberwolves, said: "Then there's [Kevin] Love, a feisty rookie from UCLA who sees the floor and loves to pass. Those are skills that got [Kevin] McHale into the shrine in Springfield."

[Spits morning coffee all over the computer screen]

Great googly moogly! Seeing the floor? Passing?! This seems like a good time to point out that McHale was dubbed The Black Hole by his teammates and that McHale himself once described his shooting philosophy as: "If there are three guys on me, shoot. If there are four guys on me, pass."

Just watch the following video, in which Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson and Robert Parish describe McHale's penchant for ball-hoggery. The best quote comes from D.J., who said: "You stand there for a while just hopin', but from the bench you here the coaches sayin' 'Hey, cut Dennis, cut, because you aren't gonna get it back.'"


Here's another video that shows off why Kevin was so reluctant to give up the rock.

Labels: 80s Celtics, black hole, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, fan submissions, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Sports Illustrated