University of Minnesota Athletics
A Place Called Home: Former Men's Basketball Star Kevin McHale
3/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
It all began with McHale's days in Hibbing, Minn., where he was a small town mining boy that loved to play basketball and hang out with his friends. McHale considers those days the beginning and the end. Those were the days he began to learn the life lessons of playing basketball. They were the days that made him realize that no matter where he went he would end up right back where he started, in Minnesota.
"My days in high school were amazing," McHale explained. "I grew up with the best group of friends that are still my best friends today. I played for a coach that was a great guy and teacher. I learned so much from him. My parents came to all the games and everything was so easy and enjoyable. I was improving and so many things were happening. And then I was offered a scholarship to the U and I was so proud."
Going to the University of Minnesota was McHale's dream. Being a Golden Gopher and playing for his home state was an experience of a lifetime and cannot imagine his life without it. The fall of 1976 was McHale's first few months on campus and those are the days the he remembers the most. It was his freshman year of college and basketball practices were beginning. It was a time of change and independence; a time when McHale would mature and develop as an athlete and as a man.
"When anyone asks me about the `U', I reflect back to my first month on campus and those first memories of playing ball and being a true college student," McHale expressed.
Initially he was amazed by the city, the size of the campus and the place he would spend almost every day for four years, Williams Arena.
"I will never forget running onto the floor of Williams Arena for the first time," McHale reflected. "Our locker room was down by the tunnel. I opened the door and there was a buzz and I did not know where it was coming from so I went back in and opened the door again. Then I realized that the buzz was the crowd upstairs. I ran out there to warm up and was in shock. It dawned on me that you could put the entire town I grew up in that arena and still have seats left over."
To this day, every time McHale goes into Williams Arena the memories come rushing back. It is a place that he holds close to his heart. He visits at odd times and goes to practice when there are not a lot of people around and those are the times he cherishes the building most. Everyone talks about the excitement of `The Barn' on Saturday afternoons, but McHale played there all year round with the seats empty and those were his favorite moments.
"I feel more comfortable when there is no one there," McHale commented. "My most vivid memories are when I walked in there with the stands empty and a basketball bouncing on the floor. I spent many hours by myself in Williams Arena just shooting and loved it. It is funny how you can get a peaceful feeling in a huge building like that all by yourself."
McHale still enjoys going to the Barn when there is no one there rather than on a game day. He is just happy that it still stands today and basketball lovers can enjoy it. He has been fortunate to play in a lot of great places, but he considers Williams Arena as one of the top five places to play in the world.
"There is nothing else like it," McHale explained. "It feels like home."
When McHale started his basketball career at Minnesota, he was lucky to come into such a wonderful program. During his freshman year, he was privileged to play with upperclassmen and he could not have wished for a better year. He recalls those beginning years as unbelievable. Their record was great and he thought he would be apart of a winning team his entire four years. However, his junior and senior year was more difficult because they had a lot of young guys.
"I started with four freshmen when I was a junior," McHale explained. "My only regret at the `U' was that I wasn't able to have a graduating class. There wasn't a junior on the team when I was senior. So I missed out on playing with those guys that were at the same stage as I was."
The last two years for McHale were somewhat difficult basketball-wise but he still enjoyed the school and everything else that went along with being a college student. McHale understood the importance of having the overall college experience and he believes there is no better place for that than the `U'.
"The University of Minnesota is such an amazing school," McHale stated. "There are so many opportunities for everyone and it really is the perfect place for young adults to find their independence and learn life lessons."
McHale knew that he was there to improve as an athlete, but yet he never wanted to lose track of the other areas of his life. He was always focused on helping the team win games and becoming a better basketball player. But at the same time he concentrated on his education and never wanted it to take away from the enjoyment of the school.
"I cannot imagine going any other place that the U of M," McHale said. "I had the best experience and learned a lot. I was on a team that was 24-3 my freshman year and I was on team that wasn't that good my junior year and I would not change any of it."
During McHale's years as a Golden Gopher, he dealt with a variety of things from school to basketball to adjusting to a different lifestyle. But most of all he learned how to deal with adversity. He says that everyone is a good winner, but when things are bad is when you are truly tested and you realize how much you learned along the way. During tough times you have to bear down and you cannot control everything. You can help others out, but ultimately you can only control yourself.
"I was committed to the team and knew I had to get better and make my team better," McHale expressed. "I had a lot of pride at the `U' and when we started off good I thought it would be that easy. But it did not turn out that way."
So McHale took his pride and all the energy he had to make the Golden Gophers better. Not for him and not for the team, but for the State of Minnesota.
"It was my state," McHale said. "That was the school that I grew up loving and idolizing and I did not want to let anyone down. The university meant a lot to me. When we lost it hurt. I felt like I let the state down and that motivated me.
"Minnesota was the perfect place for me because if I had gone anywhere else I would have not felt so attached to the school," McHale stated.
After leaving the Golden Gophers and the University McHale took everything he learned in his years at Minnesota and applied them elsewhere, which led him to great success. He moved onto have an outstanding NBA career with the Boston Celtics. With the Celtics, he won three NBA Championships (1981, `84, `86), earned seven trips to the NBA All-Star game and eventually became the first Golden Gopher to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 for his incredible 13-year career in the league.
Being a NBA star had its perks and one of McHale's big moments away from the court came when he made his acting debut on the television series Cheers. McHale claims that is one of his most embarrassing moments throughout his career. He admits that it was a great show, and he loved it, but he was never going to make a guest appearance until his wife talked him into it. Since it aired he has only seen it once, and when reruns come on and his kids watch it he just leaves the room.
"Looking back on that, I had more people asked me about Cheers than basketball," commented McHale. "I was a lot more comfortable on the basketball floor than I was on stage. I learned a lot at the `U', but one thing I did not learn is how to act because I didn't take acting classes at the University of Minnesota."
Throughout McHale's career as a basketball player in high school, college and professional he has learned life lessons that have helped him reach his goals and be successful. "I think you learn lessons all along the way," McHale said. "I learned a ton of lessons in high school and my coach there was extremely influential on me and then I went to the `U' and learned a ton of lessons as a Gopher."
Most importantly, he learned that you have to take responsibility for yourself. You have to go out there and improve and do what you have to do to get better for yourself and no one else. You can't control other things around you have to take care of yourself. McHale learned that you need to focus on the positive, work hard and keep trying to improve and do everything you can do to help your team win.
"Playing at the `U' was the first time I ever went through losing in my life and it was frustrating," explained McHale. "But through that losing I learned a lot and I would do it all over again if I had to."
"I learned most of my lessons at the U off of the court," McHale recalled. "I learned most from just going to college, studying, interacting with people in the dorms. It was a great environment for any young man to grow as a person."
After leaving the NBA, McHale came back home. He returned home to give back to the state that holds a special place in his heart. He is teaching other athletes what he has learned throughout his career as the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwovles. He is putting all his energy into developing a Championship basketball team for the state he loves so dear. He takes pride in his days as a Gopher and what Minnesota has given him throughout his life and he wants to give back.
"I have been lucky to have the opportunities I have had," McHale explained. "I look at myself as a kid who came from a mining family up in Northern Minnesota and as a great student at the University of Minnesota. I have always strived to get better. I went on to play for the Boston Celtics and then strived to get better everyday that I was a Celtic. And then eventually my career came to an end and I came back home and took over the Timberwolves and have strived to make them better every day as well."
In his effort to make the Minnesota Timberwolves a better team, McHale encourages his team to look ahead to the possibilities and enforces the idea the hard work pays of over time.
"I try to explain that it is all about patience and understanding and that it is not going to happen overnight," McHale explained. "I learned that from my father and mother, my high school coach, my coaches at the U and throughout life. You carry that stuff with you."
Most recently McHale was selected as a starter on the Big Ten Silver Anniversary Team, which ESPN announced to mark their 25 years of college basketball coverage. The team was created to honor the greats at each position throughout the Big Ten since 1978. McHale was selected as the starting center along side Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State, Steve Alford of Indiana, Jim Jackson of Ohio State and Glenn Robinson of Purdue.
"It was a great honor for me, but especially for the University of Minnesota and I do think there were a lot of better players than me," McHale said. "I don't look at where I have been. I look at where I am going."
Looking at his career, McHale feels lucky and fortunate. His Boston days were great. He lived there for 13 years and loved it. He considers it an experience of a lifetime. It was so different. It was a dream come true. But he always knew he was going to come back to Minnesota.
"There is something about the land, something about the people, something about my drive to my cabin up north in Hibbing," McHale commented. "It is the Minnesota days when I get out of my car and smell the pine trees, I am home and I can't explain it. It just feels good. My cabin makes me feel comfortable. There is no other place that I would like to spend most of my time. I just know I am at home."
Kevin McHale looks to a few special places in his life that he considers home. Each special place that he holds close to his heart follow him straight back to the state of Minnesota. Whether it is Williams Arena or his cabin in Northern Minnesota, McHale could not imagine being anywhere that makes him feel more at peace.
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Jessica Fleischmann. She welcomes comments at gophers@umn.edu.
Home is defined as a place one holds dear because of personal feelings or relationships; a place of security and comfort. It is a place that everyone goes back to at the end of the day. A place that no matter where you are or where you go, you know that you can always go home. Throughout Kevin McHale's career, he has gone many places and met people from all over, but he always knew he would go back to the place he calls home.
It all began with McHale's days in Hibbing, Minn., where he was a small town mining boy that loved to play basketball and hang out with his friends. McHale considers those days the beginning and the end. Those were the days he began to learn the life lessons of playing basketball. They were the days that made him realize that no matter where he went he would end up right back where he started, in Minnesota.
"My days in high school were amazing," McHale explained. "I grew up with the best group of friends that are still my best friends today. I played for a coach that was a great guy and teacher. I learned so much from him. My parents came to all the games and everything was so easy and enjoyable. I was improving and so many things were happening. And then I was offered a scholarship to the U and I was so proud."
Going to the University of Minnesota was McHale's dream. Being a Golden Gopher and playing for his home state was an experience of a lifetime and cannot imagine his life without it. The fall of 1976 was McHale's first few months on campus and those are the days the he remembers the most. It was his freshman year of college and basketball practices were beginning. It was a time of change and independence; a time when McHale would mature and develop as an athlete and as a man.
"When anyone asks me about the `U', I reflect back to my first month on campus and those first memories of playing ball and being a true college student," McHale expressed.
Initially he was amazed by the city, the size of the campus and the place he would spend almost every day for four years, Williams Arena.
"I will never forget running onto the floor of Williams Arena for the first time," McHale reflected. "Our locker room was down by the tunnel. I opened the door and there was a buzz and I did not know where it was coming from so I went back in and opened the door again. Then I realized that the buzz was the crowd upstairs. I ran out there to warm up and was in shock. It dawned on me that you could put the entire town I grew up in that arena and still have seats left over."
To this day, every time McHale goes into Williams Arena the memories come rushing back. It is a place that he holds close to his heart. He visits at odd times and goes to practice when there are not a lot of people around and those are the times he cherishes the building most. Everyone talks about the excitement of `The Barn' on Saturday afternoons, but McHale played there all year round with the seats empty and those were his favorite moments.
"I feel more comfortable when there is no one there," McHale commented. "My most vivid memories are when I walked in there with the stands empty and a basketball bouncing on the floor. I spent many hours by myself in Williams Arena just shooting and loved it. It is funny how you can get a peaceful feeling in a huge building like that all by yourself."
McHale still enjoys going to the Barn when there is no one there rather than on a game day. He is just happy that it still stands today and basketball lovers can enjoy it. He has been fortunate to play in a lot of great places, but he considers Williams Arena as one of the top five places to play in the world.
"There is nothing else like it," McHale explained. "It feels like home."
When McHale started his basketball career at Minnesota, he was lucky to come into such a wonderful program. During his freshman year, he was privileged to play with upperclassmen and he could not have wished for a better year. He recalls those beginning years as unbelievable. Their record was great and he thought he would be apart of a winning team his entire four years. However, his junior and senior year was more difficult because they had a lot of young guys.
"I started with four freshmen when I was a junior," McHale explained. "My only regret at the `U' was that I wasn't able to have a graduating class. There wasn't a junior on the team when I was senior. So I missed out on playing with those guys that were at the same stage as I was."
The last two years for McHale were somewhat difficult basketball-wise but he still enjoyed the school and everything else that went along with being a college student. McHale understood the importance of having the overall college experience and he believes there is no better place for that than the `U'.
"The University of Minnesota is such an amazing school," McHale stated. "There are so many opportunities for everyone and it really is the perfect place for young adults to find their independence and learn life lessons."
McHale knew that he was there to improve as an athlete, but yet he never wanted to lose track of the other areas of his life. He was always focused on helping the team win games and becoming a better basketball player. But at the same time he concentrated on his education and never wanted it to take away from the enjoyment of the school.
"I cannot imagine going any other place that the U of M," McHale said. "I had the best experience and learned a lot. I was on a team that was 24-3 my freshman year and I was on team that wasn't that good my junior year and I would not change any of it."
During McHale's years as a Golden Gopher, he dealt with a variety of things from school to basketball to adjusting to a different lifestyle. But most of all he learned how to deal with adversity. He says that everyone is a good winner, but when things are bad is when you are truly tested and you realize how much you learned along the way. During tough times you have to bear down and you cannot control everything. You can help others out, but ultimately you can only control yourself.
"I was committed to the team and knew I had to get better and make my team better," McHale expressed. "I had a lot of pride at the `U' and when we started off good I thought it would be that easy. But it did not turn out that way."
So McHale took his pride and all the energy he had to make the Golden Gophers better. Not for him and not for the team, but for the State of Minnesota.
"It was my state," McHale said. "That was the school that I grew up loving and idolizing and I did not want to let anyone down. The university meant a lot to me. When we lost it hurt. I felt like I let the state down and that motivated me.
"Minnesota was the perfect place for me because if I had gone anywhere else I would have not felt so attached to the school," McHale stated.
After leaving the Golden Gophers and the University McHale took everything he learned in his years at Minnesota and applied them elsewhere, which led him to great success. He moved onto have an outstanding NBA career with the Boston Celtics. With the Celtics, he won three NBA Championships (1981, `84, `86), earned seven trips to the NBA All-Star game and eventually became the first Golden Gopher to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 for his incredible 13-year career in the league.
Being a NBA star had its perks and one of McHale's big moments away from the court came when he made his acting debut on the television series Cheers. McHale claims that is one of his most embarrassing moments throughout his career. He admits that it was a great show, and he loved it, but he was never going to make a guest appearance until his wife talked him into it. Since it aired he has only seen it once, and when reruns come on and his kids watch it he just leaves the room.
"Looking back on that, I had more people asked me about Cheers than basketball," commented McHale. "I was a lot more comfortable on the basketball floor than I was on stage. I learned a lot at the `U', but one thing I did not learn is how to act because I didn't take acting classes at the University of Minnesota."
Throughout McHale's career as a basketball player in high school, college and professional he has learned life lessons that have helped him reach his goals and be successful. "I think you learn lessons all along the way," McHale said. "I learned a ton of lessons in high school and my coach there was extremely influential on me and then I went to the `U' and learned a ton of lessons as a Gopher."
Most importantly, he learned that you have to take responsibility for yourself. You have to go out there and improve and do what you have to do to get better for yourself and no one else. You can't control other things around you have to take care of yourself. McHale learned that you need to focus on the positive, work hard and keep trying to improve and do everything you can do to help your team win.
"Playing at the `U' was the first time I ever went through losing in my life and it was frustrating," explained McHale. "But through that losing I learned a lot and I would do it all over again if I had to."
"I learned most of my lessons at the U off of the court," McHale recalled. "I learned most from just going to college, studying, interacting with people in the dorms. It was a great environment for any young man to grow as a person."
After leaving the NBA, McHale came back home. He returned home to give back to the state that holds a special place in his heart. He is teaching other athletes what he has learned throughout his career as the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwovles. He is putting all his energy into developing a Championship basketball team for the state he loves so dear. He takes pride in his days as a Gopher and what Minnesota has given him throughout his life and he wants to give back.
"I have been lucky to have the opportunities I have had," McHale explained. "I look at myself as a kid who came from a mining family up in Northern Minnesota and as a great student at the University of Minnesota. I have always strived to get better. I went on to play for the Boston Celtics and then strived to get better everyday that I was a Celtic. And then eventually my career came to an end and I came back home and took over the Timberwolves and have strived to make them better every day as well."
In his effort to make the Minnesota Timberwolves a better team, McHale encourages his team to look ahead to the possibilities and enforces the idea the hard work pays of over time.
"I try to explain that it is all about patience and understanding and that it is not going to happen overnight," McHale explained. "I learned that from my father and mother, my high school coach, my coaches at the U and throughout life. You carry that stuff with you."
Most recently McHale was selected as a starter on the Big Ten Silver Anniversary Team, which ESPN announced to mark their 25 years of college basketball coverage. The team was created to honor the greats at each position throughout the Big Ten since 1978. McHale was selected as the starting center along side Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State, Steve Alford of Indiana, Jim Jackson of Ohio State and Glenn Robinson of Purdue.
"It was a great honor for me, but especially for the University of Minnesota and I do think there were a lot of better players than me," McHale said. "I don't look at where I have been. I look at where I am going."
Looking at his career, McHale feels lucky and fortunate. His Boston days were great. He lived there for 13 years and loved it. He considers it an experience of a lifetime. It was so different. It was a dream come true. But he always knew he was going to come back to Minnesota.
"There is something about the land, something about the people, something about my drive to my cabin up north in Hibbing," McHale commented. "It is the Minnesota days when I get out of my car and smell the pine trees, I am home and I can't explain it. It just feels good. My cabin makes me feel comfortable. There is no other place that I would like to spend most of my time. I just know I am at home."
Kevin McHale looks to a few special places in his life that he considers home. Each special place that he holds close to his heart follow him straight back to the state of Minnesota. Whether it is Williams Arena or his cabin in Northern Minnesota, McHale could not imagine being anywhere that makes him feel more at peace.
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Jessica Fleischmann. She welcomes comments at gophers@umn.edu.
