Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953), nicknamed "the Chief", is an American former professional basketball player. A 7-foot-1-inch (2.16 m) center, he played 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, and Chicago Bulls, helping the Celtics win three NBA championships while teaming with Hall-of-Fame forwards Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, and won a fourth championship with the Bulls prior to his retirement.
During his college career at Centenary College, Parish racked up impressive enough numbers to be drafted three times—twice by teams from the ABA and once in 1976 by the Golden State Warriors of the NBA. Parish played four seasons for the Warriors. In 1980, he was traded to the Boston Celtics along with a draft pick that the Celtics would use to select forward Kevin McHale. Parish and McHale joined star forward Larry Bird on the Celtics. Known as the Big Three, the trio won three NBA championships together. Parish left the Celtics as a free agent following the 1993–1994 season and went on to play two more seasons with the Charlotte Hornets and one with the Chicago Bulls, winning an NBA title with the Bulls in 1997 before retiring from the NBA at age 43.
Parish played 1,611 games in his career, ranking second of all-time in the NBA, behind only LeBron James. He played in 21 NBA seasons, a 5-way tie for third-most in league history. Aside from his career longevity, Parish is known for his strong defense, rebounding and high-trajectory jump shot. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a four-time NBA champion and he was named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams. The Celtics retired his jersey in 1998. Parish was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Robert is the son of Robert Sr. and Ada Parish. He is the oldest of their four children.
Parish was already 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall in the seventh grade (age 12–13) when junior high coach Coleman Kidd first noticed him and encouraged him to play basketball, which was new to him. Coleman would come to the Parish family home if Robert missed a practice and gave Parish a basketball to practice with. It was at this time that Parish started wearing his uniform No. 00. The players got to choose their jerseys in order of perceived ability and since Parish was viewed as the worst player, he received the last remaining jersey, which was number 00. Parish stuck with the jersey throughout his college and professional career.
"I really didn't like basketball growing up." Parish said, talking about how he focused instead on football, baseball and track."[Coach] Coleman would come to my house and take me to practice every day until I had to start showing up myself so I give all the credit to him."
Parish attended Woodlawn High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he played for Coach Ken Ivy. He previously attended Union High School until it was closed due to desegregation. Named All-American, All-State, All-District and All-City in 1972, Parish led Woodlawn High School to the 1972 Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAAA state championship.
Parish attended Centenary College of Louisiana. "The reason why I chose Centenary is because of their coaches," Parish said. "I was very impressed with the coaches." However, he received virtually no notice because of one of the most severe penalties ever levied by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Beginning in 1965, the NCAA used a formula to determine the academic eligibility of incoming freshmen seeking to play varsity sports. (At that time, freshmen were generally ineligible to play varsity athletics. The NCAA allowed freshmen to play varsity sports other than football and basketball in 1968 and extended freshman varsity eligibility to those sports in 1972.) Parish took a standardized test that did not fit the NCAA's eligibility formula. Centenary converted his score to an equivalent that fit the formula, which it had done for 12 other athletes in the previous two years. This action violated NCAA regulations, however the NCAA had not paid any attention to the school's moves prior to Parish's recruitment.
Shortly before Parish was to enroll, the NCAA notified Centenary that he and four other basketball players whose test scores had been converted were ineligible to play varsity basketball. The NCAA added that the school would not be penalized if it rescinded the five scholarships. When Centenary refused to pull the scholarships, the NCAA placed Centenary's basketball program on probation for six years. During the six-year probation period, the college was barred from postseason play: its results and statistics were excluded from weekly summaries and its existence was not acknowledged in the NCAA's annual press guides.
Within days of its decision, the NCAA repealed the 1.6 rule but refused to make the five Centenary players eligible. All five, including Parish, sued the NCAA to challenge its eligibility decision but lost. The decision made Parish a sort of "invisible man" who racked up huge statistical totals in virtual obscurity. In his four years at Centenary, the Gents went 87-21 and spent 14 weeks in the AP Top 20 poll, mostly during his senior season in 1975–76. While he averaged 21.6 points and 16.9 rebounds per game during his Centenary career and Centenary recognized his records, the NCAA would not include Parish's statistics in its record books.
Between his junior and senior years at Centenary, Parish played for Team USA at the 1975 Pan American Games. His issues with the NCAA indirectly led to his not being recommended for a spot on the team. Centenary paid his way to Salt Lake City to enable him to try out for Team USA. Parish made the team, was unanimously elected captain and led the team to a gold medal.
Throughout his time at Centenary, Parish chose not to escape anonymity by either jumping to the National Basketball Association or American Basketball Association (the latter of which existed until the ABA–NBA merger in 1976) or by transferring to another college, even though the professional ranks offered him potential riches and a transfer would have given him eligibility and far more publicity. At the time, professional scouts did not question his physical skills but were divided about whether his decision to stay at Centenary was a show of loyalty or evidence of poor decision-making. For his part, Parish said, "I didn't transfer because Centenary did nothing wrong. And I have no regrets. None."
Overall, Parish averaged 21.6 points and 16.9 rebounds in his 108-game career at Centenary and 24.8 points and 18 rebounds as a senior. The Sporting News named him a first-team All-American as a senior.
In 2018, following a formal appeal from Centenary College, the NCAA announced that Parish's records would be recognized and placed into the NCAA Record Book.
Golden State Warriors (1976–1980)
After college, Parish was drafted in the first round of the 1976 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. He had also been drafted by the Utah Stars in the 1973 ABA Special Circumstances draft and by the Spurs in the 1975 ABA draft. Parish signed with the Warriors. The Warriors were NBA champions in 1975 (two seasons prior to Parish's rookie campaign). However, when Parish joined Golden State, their decline had begun so they missed the playoffs completely from 1978 to 1980.
"I was seriously thinking about having a very short basketball career before the trade because of all the losing that I experienced with the Warriors and being blamed for the Warriors demise." Parish said of his time with Golden State. "I understand that because I was the No. 1 player taken (by the team in the 1976 draft) and the blame falls on my shoulders. But basketball is not an individual sport. It's a team sport and I just feel like the team was an assembly of misfits and too much independent thinking. Guys were thinking about themselves as opposed to the team."