After Maxwell was traded prior to the 1985–1986 season, McHale became a starter alongside Bird and center Robert Parish, where the three formed what is often considered one of the best front-court trios in NBA history.

McHale began working for the Minnesota Timberwolves immediately following his retirement in 1993 (until 2009) and at different times, as a TV analyst, general manager, and a head coach.

[7] The 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) McHale played basketball at the power forward position for the University of Minnesota (the Golden Gophers) from 1976 to 1980, with career averages of 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

McHale's stay in Boston got off to a rocky start as he held out for a large contract, even threatening to play in Italy,[12] before signing a three-year deal with the Celtics.

Backing up Cedric Maxwell at forward, McHale made an immediate impact and was named to the NBA's All-Rookie First Team in his rookie season.

McHale helped save the Game 6 win by rejecting an Andrew Toney shot and corralling the rebound with 16 seconds left to protect the Celtics' one-point lead.

With the hiring of new head coach, former Celtic KC Jones and the acquisition of Phoenix Suns guard Dennis Johnson, Boston seemed primed to make yet another run at a 15th championship.

After surviving a seven-game semifinal battle with the Knicks, the Celtics avenged the previous season's playoff loss to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals.

McHale continued to come off the bench during the first half of the 1984–1985 season, but moved into a starting role in February 1985 after Cedric Maxwell suffered a knee injury.

Boston captured its second straight Eastern Conference title but was upended in the NBA Finals in six games by the rival Lakers.

[15] The Celtics acquired former NBA Most Valuable Player Bill Walton in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers in September 1985, and added the 6 ft 11 in (211 cm) center to its already-formidable frontline.

Boston sent Cedric Maxwell to the Clippers to complete the trade, clearing the way for McHale to move into a full-time starting role.

An extremely durable player through the first five seasons of his career, McHale missed 14 games in early 1986 due to an injured Achilles tendon in his left ankle, but was healthy in time for the playoffs.

In the playoffs, a hobbled McHale averaged 39 minutes per game and connected on 58 percent of his shots as Boston again won the Eastern Conference title.

Boston swept the Bulls in the first round for the second straight year and survived two epic but bruising seven-game series with the Bucks and Pistons.

The battered and fatigued Celtics - with not only McHale, but also Parish (two sprained ankles), Ainge (leg injury) and Walton (broken foot) playing hurt - then lost to the Lakers in six games in the 1987 NBA Finals.

Head coach K. C. Jones retired at season's end, and the Celtics of the Bird-McHale-Parish era would never again advance past the conference semi-finals.

New head coach Jimmy Rodgers coaxed the team into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's eighth and final seed behind the play of McHale, Parish and second-year guard Reggie Lewis.

Bird returned to the court following his various injuries but was criticized by teammates, including McHale, for taking too many shots and trying to dominate games on his own.

[16] McHale briefly feuded with coach and best friend Chris Ford over his lack of playing time near the end of his final season.

[16] In the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Charlotte Hornets the Celtics were stunned by the loss of Lewis, their leading scorer, who collapsed on the court during Game 1 and was diagnosed with what eventually proved to be a fatal heart condition.

McHale was a part of what many consider the league's best-ever frontline with small forward Larry Bird and center Robert Parish.

Possessing a wide variety of offensive moves close to the basket the agile, long-armed McHale played in seven National Basketball Association All-Star Games between 1984 and 1991.

In 1995, he was promoted to Vice President of Basketball Operations (i.e., General Manager); one of his first acts was hiring former University of Minnesota teammate Flip Saunders as head coach of the Timberwolves.

It was also during McHale's reign that the Timberwolves were punished by the NBA for making a secret deal with free-agent forward Joe Smith to circumvent the league's salary cap rules.

Before the 1998–99 season, Smith secretly agreed to sign three, one-year contracts with the Timberwolves for salary amounts that were much less than what any other NBA teams would have reasonably offered him.

[3][dead link‍] Prior to the 2007 NBA draft, McHale reportedly tried to work out a trade with Boston Celtics General Manager (and former Celtics teammate) Danny Ainge to trade franchise star Kevin Garnett (frequently named, at the time, the best active player to have never won an NBA championship) to Boston, in exchange for a draft pick and multiple players.

[4] However, in late June the Celtics swung a draft-day deal with the Seattle SuperSonics to acquire sharpshooter and seven-time All-Star Ray Allen.

[31] McHale is one of six members of the 1985–86 Celtics' championship team to have served as an NBA head coach (Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Sam Vincent and Rick Carlisle are the others).

He occasionally appeared on the NBA on TNT in-studio show, and even broadcast a few regular season and playoff games for the cable station.