Kevin McHale was destroyed when he realized his career was over: 'After one particularly rough night, I went home and cried'

Many athletes have a hard time coming to terms with reality, especially when it's time to walk away. Some hold on too long and are unable to let go, which leads to a painful decline. 

Boston Celtics legend Kevin McHale was one of those players who likely should have retired sooner but found it hard to shake the pull of his former greatness. The three-time champion admitted that facing the end of his career was so difficult it felt as if a part of him had died—so much so that he was brought to tears.

"I'm matching up with players who are nothing special, and they don't even see me," McHale said, as per ESPN's Jackie MacMullan. "They are scoring over me like I'm not even there. After one particularly rough night, I remember I went home and cried. I cried over the loss of that part of me that had been with me since I was 13 years old."

It's understandable why the "Black Hole" felt that way. He prided himself on stopping people, and being a six-time All-Defensive Team member, McHale had his merits. However, it wasn't fun anymore when a multitude of injuries robbed him of lateral and vertical quickness.

"We were just miserable"

The Celtics went to the NBA Finals six times over the course of McHale's 13-year career. With the physicality and the mileage piling up, the former Golden Gopher suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and a broken foot in one year. 

Besides McHale's health issues, Larry Bird also faced some serious ailments on his own. These injuries took a toll on the Celtics' chemistry and created a rift between the team's two best offensive weapons.

"At that point, Kevin was the healthier of the two, and he felt Larry should have deferred to him more," center Robert Parish said. "That's when the relationship really started to deteriorate."

"The injuries made us all ornery," McHale said. "We were all experiencing the same thing, and we were just miserable."

While Bird admitted he was just trying to get out of his basketball career in one piece, his frontcourt mate was still trying to relive the past. In his prime, McHale was unstoppable, and he was one of the few who averaged more points and rebounds in the playoffs than in the regular season.

"There were nights when I'd be on a rampage and tell our guys, 'I don't care what happens, we're going to win.' Guys would come over to help on defense, and I'd wave 'em off," recalled McHale. "When I was on the top of my game, I'd get inside a guy's head, and he was done. Whatever he tried, I was one step ahead of him. I was a real jerk, and I loved it. And then, one day, it's gone."

Retired as a Celtic

"Herman Munster" still played 77 out of a possible 82 games in the 1986-87 season despite suffering from the effects of a broken foot months prior. After that, the decline was steady until it went to a screeching halt. McHale's numbers were still fine, but the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs three times in the first round from 1989 to 1993.

During those years, Red Auerbach had a chance to capitalize from the Hall of Famer's name recognition by trading him elsewhere, but he didn't. Auerbach did him a solid, and McHale is forever thankful for that.

"I will always be grateful for Red for not trading me," stated McHale. "It meant the world to me to play my entire career with the Celtics. I know people want to criticize him now, but I loved the fact Red said, 'Screw it, these are my guys.' There was a real honor to it, something you hardly ever see today."