Lone Ranger

Another five minutes were spent talking up the virtues of boxing-out opponents and taking charges, two physical moves that Garnett rarely executes. And five more minutes were consumed praising new coach Randy Wittman for demanding accountability in the locker room. In any event, the sniping between Saunders and McHale has grown more pointed since Saunders was fired two years ago, and the relationship between McHale and KG has become increasingly aloof and antagonistic in recent years.

“Kevin and KG probably don’t communicate like they did when KG first came here,” Taylor acknowledged about two weeks before McHale traded Garnett to Boston in summer. “At one point, KG really looked up to McHale. That relationship has changed. Each might hold the other accountable for some of our failures.”

In the past two years, McHale has purposefully drafted experienced, team-oriented college players from winning programs who enjoy physical contact on both offense and defense. And Wittman, a disciple of taskmaster Bobby Knight, was rehired despite his putrid 12-30 record last season. Finally, the bulk return on the Garnett trade—five players and two draft choices—provides McHale with the components to implement his philosophy. The key to the deal is power forward Al Jefferson, a prototype of McHale’s style of play. Most of the others in the trade likewise enjoy taking it hard to the basket.

The vices and virtues of Kevin McHale stem from essentially the same source. He grew up believing himself blessed with his hardscrabble, Norman Rockwell background and has held to it. It was a crucible for emotional security and self-confidence, and it ingrained in him a conservative approach to social relationships that is the epitome of “old school.” “Some of my favorite times have been in a duck blind with my best friends, which is pretty much the guys I grew up with,” says McHale. “We are very open and honest with each other and tell very personal things that you don’t say to many people . . . I don’t want to say it’s liberating but . . . after you get done, you look at the guy and think, ‘Now I know why we have been friends for forty years.’ Most everything we’ve done, most of it we have done together, so there is really nothing they could say that would change how you feel about them. And that’s a very nice feeling.”