Kevin McHale shows off his freakish standing reach

[FrodoBaggins]

Watch on YouTube

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[CIN-C-STAR]

Skinny Jokic-esque scorer in the modern NBA, but with elite mobility on D for a center.

[FrodoBaggins]

Skinny Jokic-esque scorer in the modern NBA, but with elite mobility on D for a center.

He was like a much longer Joakim Noah on defense before the foot injury. I never saw anyone defend Dominique Wilkins as well as he did.

[70sFan]

That's absurd standing reach, it enabled him to finish in traffic without jumping high. Of course GOAT-level touch in the paint also helped.

[Long2_noD]

His massive hands also made him look bizarre in a suit when he coached:


I'm sorry but this does not look like a real person lol.

[Sealab2024]

Walked into a CVS in Vegas and had Kevin walk up behind me in line. I'm not a small guy at 6'2" but Kevin just towered over me. Looks every bit the gangly awkward near 7 footer he is. Still amazing how much short area athleticism that could produce.

[UcanUwill]

Walked into a CVS in Vegas and had Kevin walk up behind me in line. I'm not a small guy at 6'2" but Kevin just towered over me. Looks every bit the gangly awkward near 7 footer he is. Still amazing how much short area athleticism that could produce.

Yeah, 6'10+ guys are still a sight, even in my country where people are generally very tall nowadays. In my previous job, our main accountant was 6'5 women tho, that sucked, And she was not the only 6'5 woman in a place where I worked. I already shorter than 90% of men at 5'9, but damn these tall people, when I had to hug our accountant on her birthday, she needed to bend down for me. I bet we both felt bad

[Badlands]

I was at a concert in Minneapolis years ago and McHale was 3rd row center on the floor. I felt bad for the short woman right behind him. I'm not sure if she could see even when he was sitting and she was standing.

[GSWFan1994]

Former Chicago Bull player and Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan also had gigantic hands.

I remember laughing a lot visiting the blog called "Sloan's Hands", now it seems it's gone, tried searching for it, to no avail.





Also found this amazing Sloan (as a Bull) pic:

[dhsilv2]

That's absurd standing reach, it enabled him to finish in traffic without jumping high. Of course GOAT-level touch in the paint also helped.

We need him and duncan doing that side by side

[Memories]

Walked into a CVS in Vegas and had Kevin walk up behind me in line. I'm not a small guy at 6'2" but Kevin just towered over me. Looks every bit the gangly awkward near 7 footer he is. Still amazing how much short area athleticism that could produce.

Yeah, 6'10+ guys are still a sight, even in my country where people are generally very tall nowadays. In my previous job, our main accountant was 6'5 women tho, that sucked, And she was not the only 6'5 woman in a place where I worked. I already shorter than 90% of men at 5'9, but damn these tall people, when I had to hug our accountant on her birthday, she needed to bend down for me. I bet we both felt bad

Dang really? I would love it. But I also have a thing for tall women. So being surrounded by a bunch of Amazons would be a dream for me.

[UcanUwill]

Walked into a CVS in Vegas and had Kevin walk up behind me in line. I'm not a small guy at 6'2" but Kevin just towered over me. Looks every bit the gangly awkward near 7 footer he is. Still amazing how much short area athleticism that could produce.

Yeah, 6'10+ guys are still a sight, even in my country where people are generally very tall nowadays. In my previous job, our main accountant was 6'5 women tho, that sucked, And she was not the only 6'5 woman in a place where I worked. I already shorter than 90% of men at 5'9, but damn these tall people, when I had to hug our accountant on her birthday, she needed to bend down for me. I bet we both felt bad

Dang really? I would love it. But I also have a thing for tall women. So being surrounded by a bunch of Amazons would be a dream for me.

Death by SNU SNU.

[Roy T]

Walked into a CVS in Vegas and had Kevin walk up behind me in line. I'm not a small guy at 6'2" but Kevin just towered over me. Looks every bit the gangly awkward near 7 footer he is. Still amazing how much short area athleticism that could produce.

Yeah, 6'10+ guys are still a sight, even in my country where people are generally very tall nowadays. In my previous job, our main accountant was 6'5 women tho, that sucked, And she was not the only 6'5 woman in a place where I worked. I already shorter than 90% of men at 5'9, but damn these tall people, when I had to hug our accountant on her birthday, she needed to bend down for me. I bet we both felt bad

Please ensure that the conversation remains respectful and free of any objectification of women.
-infinite

[DirtybirdGA]

Plastic Man before Augmon, lol

[UcanUwill]

I remember Bill Simmons once called Anthony Davis an evolutionary Kevin McHale. Which sounds stupid, and maybe it is, Russillo or whoever Bill was talking with, said, wtf are you talking about, Davis cant play in the post at all. (It was before Davis had post game). But Bill countered - well, that is evolutionary part, that is how game is played now.

Maybe implying that if Kevin was born in this era, he would have been more like AD? I think McHale being a great post player, overshadows the fact he was a defensive player. I didnt know he was great defender at first either, I was not familiar with 80s NBA, I knew Kevin McHale as white guy who dominated in the post, it took me years to catch up with history to find out his defensive capabilities.

[FrodoBaggins]

That's absurd standing reach, it enabled him to finish in traffic without jumping high. Of course GOAT-level touch in the paint also helped.

We need him and duncan doing that side by side

In my opinion, the players with the most impressive relative standing reaches in NBA history are Kevin McHale, Bill Russell, Tim Duncan, and Nate Thurmond. Mark Williams (drafted 2022) is there as well - absolutely freakish numbers.

Tim and Kevin are both around 6'10" barefoot and have standing reaches probably between 9'5" to 9'7". Closer to 9'7" than 9'5" I'd say. Some comparable guys: Deandre Jordan (6'9.75"; 9'5.5"), DeMarcus Cousins (6'9.5"; 9'5"), Javale McGee (6'11"; 9'6.5"), Mo Bamba (6'11.25"; 9'7.5"), Rudy Gobert (7'0.5"; 9'7"), and Mark Williams (7'0"; 9'8.25"*).

*2" shoes adjusted to 1.25"

[Laimbeer]

Compared to shorter, older Hiney? McHale is also stretching harder while Hiney is more relaxed. Not a great measure.

[Jack Dempsey]

McHale had unusually high shoulders that along with his enormous wingspan gave him the advantage of playing like a >7footer at PF. His elite footwork made him imo the most talented low post scorer not named Olajuwon.

I think McHale is one of the most underrated players in the history of the league and I'm with Steven A. Smith when he calls McHale the greatest PF of all time until Duncan came along. Not Malone, not Barkley, it was McHale.

[Ein Sof]

This + half a foot of height + 30 inch vertical = Wemby

[zeebneeb]

Vastly overrated, and it today's league he would be using that reach to hand players Gatorade from behind the bench.