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Previewing the 2017-18 NBA Season with Kevin McHale

The Hall of Fame player turned coach turned TV analyst shares a few thoughts on the upcoming season, including how he'd beat the Warriors, why parity is impossible, and more.
Photo via Turner Sports

Few people have a more comprehensive understanding of what success in professional basketball looks like than Turner Sports NBA analyst Kevin McHale. His playing career is rarified air: In 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics McHale won three championships, a pair of Sixth Man awards, made seven All-Star teams, and cemented himself as arguably the most complete low-post weapon the sport has ever seen.

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In a wide-ranging conversation that looks ahead at one of the most anticipated seasons in league history, McHale describes different strategies elite teams should implement to take down the seemingly unbeatable Golden State Warriors, explains why parity in the NBA is impossible, details why NBA TV's expanded "Players Only" broadcasts are so enjoyable, and more. Strap in, because McHale loves talking hoops.


VICE Sports: Let's start with a question that might be a little tricky to answer. As someone who's played in the NBA, both for and against the greatest basketball teams ever assembled, can you try and describe what the mindset might be for players heading into this season who aren't on the Golden State Warriors?

Kevin McHale: I think one team always sets the standard and everybody chases the team that won the championship last year. Everybody has goals of getting better and improving, but let's just talk about the four, five, six teams that are considered "super teams" now. Everybody's got to look at Golden State and say "How do we beat those guys?" If you're a coach, you've just got to be spending all your time saying "How do we match up? What do we play? What do we gotta do when and if we can get to the NBA Finals to beat that team, or conference finals or conference semis?" So they've really set the standard as to what you have to do and for me I look at it and I don't think you can out space and pace the Golden State Warriors. They own that. Just look at their record in the regular season over the last few years. They play the same way all the time, and that's what makes them so good. They switch one through four all the time, all regular season, all playoffs. They go small when they need to and switch one through five. They make the extra pass, they have the extra body movement, they have great spacing, they do that every single night, so if you're a team you've gotta say "We've gotta figure out how we can beat the Golden State Warriors. How are we gonna attack all the switching that they do? How are we gonna defend those guys?"

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You're setting up a game plan, of course, to win as many games as you can in the regular season, but there's a big picture involved if you're one of the top teams. And so it's interesting, but your mindset goes down to the very specific things. You're trying to beat Golden State overall, and then just collecting talent is not gonna do it all the way. Just saying I'm gonna throw all this talent out there. I remember in the late 70s, Philadelphia just assembled a bunch of talent. They had All-Stars from everywhere. ABA All-Stars. Dr. J, Bobby Jones, all kinds of players, George McGinnis. It didn't work! You just can't throw talent together. How's that talent going to fit? How are we going to play? That to me is the most exciting thing about this year. I'm really looking forward to watching OKC play. How do those three guys play together? Are they a better team or do they just have a lot of talent? The new Boston team with Kyrie Irving. They gave up a lot of pieces. You know, losing Bradley and Crowder, you're losing two of your toughest guys. How are they gonna play? Houston. Are Harden and Chris Paul going to be able to play together? There's just a ton of stories, but assembling talent is not enough. You also have to have a style. And Golden State, to their credit, they have a style. They play it every single night, and that's why they're so good.

VS: So are these top teams trying to use the regular season to find their own best identity while also implementing a style that specifically matches up well against Golden State?

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McHale: Yeah, I mean they have to find a style that says "Okay, how can we play our best basketball, but is this style going to match up, can we beat Golden State with this style?" I remember Chuck Daly one time, the Detroit Pistons had played Philadelphia the day before they played us and they were playing on a back to back. Chuck Daly trapped like crazy. Trapped all of Philadelphia's post ups. They trapped and rotated, and Philadelphia didn't have very good post players. They lost the game but he said it doesn't matter. "We were preparing to beat Boston who we haven't been able to get by in the conference finals. We've gotta beat them." And that's what teams have got to be doing.

You've gotta look at it and say, "We can beat 25 teams consistently playing this style, but we can't beat the other top four teams. You've gotta look at that and say 'is that good enough?" And a lot of teams, I'll be honest with you, they'll say that's good enough. They'll say "Ah well, they're a super team." They give in, and I think talent alone is not going to beat Golden State. You have to have mental toughness. You have to have physical toughness. You have to have so many things that go with that. And unfortunately in today's game, sometimes, everybody just thinks it's purely going to be talent. And granted, as Red Auerbach said, you can do the best job training a mule and still never win the Kentucky Derby. You have to have a thoroughbred. But it's not just thoroughbreds. It's a style, it's an unselfishness, it's a toughness, it's a coming together, it's being involved in something that's bigger than you. And all of those things sound really easy, but those things are not easy to do in the basketball world of 2017-18.

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VS: In your mind, what is the strategy to beat this Warriors team?

McHale: You've gotta be disciplined. Last year when I heard Ty Lue say "Well, we're gonna play our game. We're gonna get up and down." Saying "We're going to outscore and outshoot Golden State?" Good luck. I mean, Klay Thompson and Steph and KD, they have three great shooters. They have a great playmaker in their four man in Green, so that style of space and pace, if you just say we're gonna out do them…and I'm telling you our league is such a copycat league. Everybody is trying that right now. That is utterly ridiculous. I look at that and I think there's nobody out there who can out do Golden State at Golden State's game. So to me, it's "How are we going to be different?"

Saying "We're going to outscore and outshoot Golden State?" Good luck.

If you're Ty Lue, you're gonna spend a big part of your season saying, "At certain points in the season we're just gonna post up LeBron." Which is just a mismatch in the post. And I'm not saying you're gonna do 48 minutes of it, but every game you're gonna do 10 to 15 because against Golden State you've gotta take layups and you've gotta take good shots on the break. They're gonna score the ball. But you just can't come down and take bad shots. At some point you gotta make them play defense for 24 seconds. At some point you've gotta punch the ball in the post, get some cutting. You've gotta do different than just perimeter passing and shooting threes. They switch everything on the perimeter, but it's hard to switch in the post. You take a guy down to the post, throw him the ball, it's hard to switch all that stuff. So you've got to play a little bit different.

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Photo by Kirby Lee - USA TODAY Sports

I look at New Orleans, which is an interesting team to me. I'm not saying they're talented enough to win an NBA championship, but they can play a style of big bully ball with Cousins and Anthony Davis that a lot of people can't handle. And when you go down in the post, there's no switching. You can front and stuff but as you front the post it opens up other things, and if you have skilled players you can take advantage of it. I just think you have to play a little bit different. Are you going to be able to post up if you're OKC? We gotta get some Melo post ups, we gotta get some Paul George post ups, we gotta get something where we can get the game slowed down a little bit and not just get into this frenetic "I'm gonna get up and down," because when you do that with Golden State, it'll be close and you'll make a little run on them, but all of a sudden they hit you with a 17-5 run that happens so fast you're like "Oh my god, you've gotta be kidding me!" Two steals, two threes, and you've gotta play different.

As Red Auerbach said, you can do the best job training a mule and still never win the Kentucky Derby. You have to have a thoroughbred. But it's not just thoroughbreds. It's a style.

If you're playing defense for 23 seconds and you're punching it into the post—out of the post you can still get threes after double teams and stuff—but there's not a lot of rebounds. It does slow the game down a little bit. So I just think every team has got to say "How can we slow the game down against Golden State? Who's our best post player?" [Right now] the big guys suck in the post, so you're better off putting your skill guys in there, and so it's just different. It's not only that. The style of play is huge as to how can you beat Golden State. And again, I said it earlier: If you're going to say "We're going to beat Golden State at Golden State's game." Good luck.

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VS: When you look at the gap the Warriors seem to have on everybody else, when's the last time you saw a team enter a season as much a favorite to win it all as they are right now?

McHale: This has always happened. You look at Michael Jordan with the three peats in Chicago. Everybody was like "How are you going to beat those guys? How are you going to match up with Michael and what are you going to do?" You know, and all of these things have a way of probably not going as long as everybody says they will. Remember Kobe and Shaq, how are you going to beat them? Well, they imploded. There's been these teams, but they've been flash in the pan. They've been three, four, five years then out. As long as [Golden State] can keep those four guys out there, Green, Thompson, Durant, and Curry, you're gonna have a hell of a time beating them, I don't care who the rest of the team is. Those four guys. There's such a vibe on that team of unselfishness in how they play.

Everybody is gonna chase them for a while, but our league goes in cycles and right now it's the three ball and it's the space and pace game, which is fun to watch. It's fun to watch. But if all of a sudden the Jokic kid up in Denver gets another big power forward that can really play, then all of a sudden they've got two seven-foot dudes that they're putting in the post. Let me tell you something, a contested three that goes in, you can live with that. I used to always say this when I was coaching. You know when Shaq's got his elbow in the rim? He's not gonna miss many of those. With a 25-foot contested three, you're like "Hey good defense. They're not gonna make all those." With Shaq, he's got his elbow in the rim.

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So if you've got Jokic and another big guy, all of a sudden they're scoring in the paint. All these efficiency ratings and all that stuff, add the three in, the "real" shooting percentage, you know what, if you get in the paint and have got skills, you're gonna be scoring in the paint with skill at a 60-65 percent clip, maybe 70 percent with fouls included, if you're talented. Especially in today's game where they play so small. So I think that you're gonna see some teams change it up. But to answer your question, things have a way of evening out and unfortunately for teams, injuries happen and it's really, I can't tell you how stressful it is on your body going into five, six, seven, eight Finals in a row. You just play so many playoff games that you're just playing an extra two or three seasons. I love Golden State, they're definitely the favorites to win. But something always happens. Someone comes out of nowhere, another team plays better. The last team that didn't [fall] was Bill Russell's team.

VS: How many teams do you think can honestly look in the mirror and call themselves a title contender right now?

McHale: They're all delusional. A bunch of teams are going to look in the mirror and think "Okay, we've got a shot" until they start playing basketball and all of a sudden something's not there. Very few teams can honestly say "We legitimately know we have a chance." There's a bunch of teams saying "We think we have a chance" today, but those numbers will go way down by February.

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VS: What team would surprise you the least if they beat Golden State in a seven-game series?

McHale: I'd be surprised by every team to be honest. [But] with Crowder, and if Isaiah Thomas comes back and is healthy, Cleveland. They have LeBron which gives you a whole different thing. I think Crowder is a tough defender. I think they can put some more defense out there than they could last year. Again, I'm really interested in seeing how OKC plays together. I just don't know if that's gonna work. I have a lot of questions about that. With the Celtics, I'm interested to see how they are after losing a couple of their top defenders, adding more talent. Definitely more offensive talent. They lose what made them special last year, their grit and kind of grind, with Isaiah Thomas just having unbelievable fourth quarters. But I'd be surprised honestly by anyone that could beat Golden State. I don't see it in any team. There are four or five teams where you say "I think in a perfect storm they could do it," but if you told me I'd have to bet, I'd bet Golden State all the way.

VS: With Oklahoma City, Houston, Boston, Minnesota, Cleveland, Golden State, San Antonio and even a team like New Orleans, can you remember ever entering a season where so much of the league's talent was clustered like it is?

McHale: Yeah, you know honestly I can go back to my first years in the league, with the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers. That was the Eastern Conference. There might've been some other people that thought they were good. They were all pretenders. There were three contenders. And then out West, you're talking about the Lakers. Maybe there's a team here and there you might say has a chance. But I think it's always been that way, I really do. I think there's always been a handful of top teams. Right now in our league there's only really a few teams that honestly in their heart think they can win a championship. But again, I think it's always kind of been that way. For some reason, just because KD leaves Oklahoma City to go to Golden State, everybody's all uptight. "Oh, Paul George is on Oklahoma City. Oh my gosh! Melo went to Oklahoma City!" They got traded there.

You know when Shaq's got his elbow in the rim? He's not gonna miss many of those. With a 25-foot contested three, you're like "Hey good defense. They're not gonna make all those." With Shaq, he's got his elbow in the rim.

Everybody is worked up over this super team thing, there's always been better teams. If you're really a good player and you become a free agent, I would look at where you can win! I'd say where's my best chance of winning. You're gonna get paid, so that doesn't bother me. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think everybody's way too uptight. This has happened. It happened back before there was free agency just because some people drafted better and put a collection of people together, whether it was Marques Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, and that whole group in Milwaukee. Whether it was Doctor J and Andrew Toney and Bobby Jones and those people in Philly. Or whether it was Robert and I coming over in a trade to join Larry and Tiny Archibald and M.L. Carr and Cedric Maxwell. It's always happened. There's always been better teams. It's just kind of how it's happened. I think everybody lost their minds when KD was a free agent and decided to go to Golden State, and now everybody's worked up about these super teams.

VS: Is parity possible in the NBA?

McHale: No! There's never going to be parity. There's 30 teams, 10 teams being equal? No. Because in the NBA your top player can have the ball in his hands and influence the game so much. If your top player is a defensive lineman in football, well that right side of your defensive line is going to be hell to fight. Nobody is going to run there. They're all just going to run to the other side to get away from him.

That's a joke to say there's gonna be parity. There will never be parity. Top players drive that league and if you can get two or three of the top 15, 20 guys on one team, and they're willing to sacrifice for each other and winning is the most important thing, nobody else has got a chance. That's just the bottom line. Everybody else can say they do, and like I said there's a bunch of pretenders. But if you have three of the top 15 players on your team, that are all willing to play together, winning is the most important thing, they're not uptight about "am I getting my numbers" and all that other crap that's so important in today's game, you're not beating that team.

VS: With 'Players Only' broadcasts coming back to NBA TV in a larger capacity this season, how excited are you to be a part of that?

McHale: It's fun. I think everybody sees things a little bit differently, and I really enjoy it. When I first started doing stuff at NBA TV and TNT, Ernie and I and Chris Webber had a show, and it was really fun to watch Chris watch the game, and just see things you don't see. He'll pick up something. It's really cool to have a bunch of ex-players, all seeing things just a little bit differently. The game is just a bunch of nuances. The game is a subtle movement here, spacing there, giving your teammate an extra 2-3 feet, better spacing, better passing, just a lot of stuff. And trends that are happening, it's fun to see them. It's just fun to be around guys who see the game through just a really different set of eyes, when you've played it and coached it and done everything. So it's fun. I enjoy it.