As a Lakers fan I hated Kevin McHale. First of all, he was an exceptional player for the dreaded Boston Celtics. He could also be a bully. There’s a famous play where he just clotheslined Kurt Rambis of the Lakers. Trust me, Lakers fan still remember.
Then in 1991 in season ten of CHEERS, David Isaacs and I wrote an episode called “Where Have All the Floorboards Gone?” in which a Celtic shows up at the bar to give Norm a jacket for his birthday and gets caught up in one of those stupid bar discussions. This one involves how many bolts are on the storied Boston Gardens parquet floor? The gang winds up going to the Garden to find out, which causes comic complications (as things like that usually do).
We wanted a real player and were able to get Kevin McHale. I was not looking forward to shaking his hand.
But Kevin arrived and proved to be the nicest guy in the world. This caused real mixed feelings. But those were resolved when Kevin also turned out to be really funny. He sold his lines and got every laugh. I’m here to tell you, for a professional athlete, that’s RARE.
Kevin was so good we just kept giving him more to do during the week. And we even brought him back for a second episode.
Besides that, we got to go to Boston to film the scenes at Boston Gardens. That was amazing.
We also went back to Boston for the CHEERS 200th episode and Kevin invited us to watch a shoot-around before a game and got us tickets to the game.
How can you not love this guy?
When you’re young and you’re a sports fan it’s easy to get really riled up. You find yourself genuinely hating opposing players who broke your heart on the field or court.
When you get older or you’re lucky enough to meet these athletes in person you often find they’re not villains at all. The hatred turns into respect. Besides, today there are real villains that have a direct effect on your life. Kevin McHale is a good guy. I bet Larry Bird is too. Probably.
from By Ken Levine
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