McHale Makes Retirement Official After Hornets Eliminate Celtics

Kevin McHale’s storied NBA career didn’t end the way he wanted it.

“It’s tough,” he said. “I really wanted to play one more game at the Boston Garden.”

McHale scored 19 points Wednesday night as the Boston Celtics came back from a 19-point deficit but lost, 104-103, to the Charlotte Hornets, clinching the best-of-five Eastern Conference first-round series for the Hornets.

McHale, 35, made his retirement official on the court after the game. “I’m not a press conference kind of guy,” he said.

Playing 33 minutes despite his aching knees and back, he sank eight of 14 shots and grabbed six rebounds. “It was fun,” McHale said, trying to fight back tears. “I wanted to go out like a warrior.”

One of only two players from the Celtics’ championship teams of the 1980s who is still with the team, McHale, a seven-time All-Star, played a reserve role in his 71 games this year.

McHale, who has played 13 seasons, said he was disappointed, but proud of his teammates: “I think we found out what makes the Boston Celtics special.”

For McHale, whose retirement has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA, it was clear early on that his storybook ending came last Saturday when he scored 30 points in a double-overtime loss to Charlotte at the Boston Garden. But he was an important performer right up to the final seconds.