When talking about greatest NBA teams of all times, no conversation can be had without including the 1985-86 Boston Celtics. Not only one of the greatest in terms of sheet talent, but also, possibly without equal – the most selfless team in NBA history.
You kind of had to be on a roster with 5 future Hall of Famers (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton.) One of those, Kevin McHale joined former teammate Cedric Maxwell on the Cedric Maxwell Podcast to deliver a hard message for the current Celtics team.
“Just make each other better.” McHale said. “If you get a bunch of guys who make each other better, you make yourself better.”
Celtics All-stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have drawn some criticism for their play. With a young and sometimes injured roster, both have taken it upon themselves to score more this season. And while their stats have improved across the board, the Celtics have been hovering around .500 for most of the season.
“This Celtics team is much better than their record, they just got to start playing for each other,” McHale told Maxwell. “And find that thing inside you that says, us winning is way more than me getting mine. It’s the we before me.”
McHale won 3 championships as a member of the Celtics, two alongside Maxwell who served as mentor to Mchale in the early stages of his career. It was on those teams that McHale says he learned the actual meaning of the word team.
“If you can’t enjoy your teammates success your’e in wrong business. You need to go play tennis. You can be by yourself and go yell at the linesmen. I learned this from playing with you guys,” Mchale told Maxwell. “If you don’t enjoy your teammates success, you can only go so far.”
