Celtics Legend Says He Played With The Best All-White Team Ever: “I Got Larry Bird, Kevin McHale…”

Cedric Maxwell thinks his team of White teammates would be better than anyone else's.

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Credit: Fadeaway World

Boston Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell spent 11 seasons in the NBA, and he reckons no one in league history played with better White players than he did. On an episode of the Cedric Maxwell Podcast, Maxwell named all the great White players he had the privilege of playing alongside.

“I played with the best all-white team ever,” Maxwell said. “Now, I got Larry Bird, Kevin McHale. I got John Havlicek, I got Dave Cowens, and I got the guy you hate the most. I got Danny Ainge. Can you find me a better all-white team? And Pete Maravich also, I played with him.”

Former NBA player Rick Mahorn couldn’t come up with five players on the spot. He could only name Bill Laimbeer and Jeff Ruland, much to Maxwell’s delight. 

“I thought about that the other day,” Maxwell stated. “I said, ‘Man, the team that I played with, the white guys I played with… I can’t think of a better one that you could have a combination of somebody else who played with that many white guys who could play the game at that level.” 

Maxwell certainly played alongside some of the greatest ones. He started off by naming Larry Bird, who won three titles, two Finals MVPs, and three MVPs during his time with the Celtics. Bird also made 12 All-Star, 10 All-NBA, and three All-Defensive teams. 

Kevin McHale was next, and he won three titles to go with two Sixth Man of the Year Awards. McHale made seven All-Star, one All-NBA, and six All-Defensive teams.

Maxwell then dug a bit deeper in the past to come up with his next two picks. John Havlicek won eight titles and a Finals MVP in his career. Havlicek also made 13 All-Star, 11 All-NBA, and eight All-Defensive teams.

Dave Cowens was a teammate of Havlicek’s, and he won two titles and an MVP. Cowens made eight All-Star, three All-NBA, and three All-Defensive teams.  

Danny Ainge was initially the last pick made by Maxwell, and he won two titles while making the All-Star team once. Ainge was never really a star, but the man Maxwell mentioned after him sure was.

Pete Maravich was a sensational scorer and won the scoring title in 1977. He also made five All-Star and four All-NBA teams. All in all, that’s a pretty formidable group of players.

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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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