Hail (...and Hall) To The Chief!

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hail (...and Hall) To The Chief!
In Appreciation as Robert Parish enters the Hall of Fame

By Jeff Twiss


      Chief Points
      Just as Fox Sports New England announcer and Hall of Famer Tommy
Heinsohn uses his 'Tommy Points' to signify an outstanding play by one of the
Celtics during a game, here are a few 'Chief Points' that highlight his
consistent and brilliant career:

      . Played in 1,611 games - 1st all-time
      . Played 21 seasons in the NBA - 1st all-time
      . Grabbed 10,117 career defensive rebounds - 1st all-time
      . Grabbed 571 career offensive rebounds in the playoffs - 1st all-time
      . Named 'One of The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History' in 1996
      . Member of four NBA world championship teams (1981, 1984, 1986 and
1997)
      . Played 16 seasons in the playoffs - 2nd only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
      . 14,715 career total rebounds - 6th-best all-time
      . 45,704 career minutes played - 7th-best all-time
      . 2,361 career blocked shots - 8th-best all-time
      . 23,334 career points - 16th-best all-time
      . 9-time NBA All-Star
      . Grabbed over 500 rebounds each season in all 14 years with the
Celtics
      . Had his Boston Celtics #00 retired in ceremonies on January 18, 1998
      . USBL Coach of the Year in 2001 with the Maryland Mustangs

The chant would cascade down from the rafters and the noise would shake the
historic Boston Garden. The familiar chorus of, 'Chief-f-f-f-f-f-f-f', would
ring loud and clear in the 14,890 fans that were wedged and sandwiched-in in
the place the Celtics called, "home". Robert Parish garnered the nickname,
"Chief", by teammate Cedric Maxwell (named after Chief Bromden, silent giant
of a man from the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest). Robert Parish was
the man in the middle for the Green and White for all of the great teams of
the 1980's and into the 1990's. He played flawlessly alongside Larry Bird and
Kevin McHale, both Hall of Famers, to form the greatest frontcourt in NBA
history.

Time has a curious way of escaping and fleeing from us, as evident by the fact
that it was exactly ten years ago that Robert Parish last wore his customary
#00 jersey for the Celtics. On Friday, September 5, 2003, he enters the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 7'-1/2" center will be the 29th
Celtic to be inducted in the sport of basketball's prestigious place.

Parish had played out his last contract with Boston after the 1993-94 campaign
and became an unrestricted free agent. On August 4, 1994, he signed on with
the Charlotte Hornets. After a two-year stint with the Hornets, Parish, again
in the free agency world, signed with the Chicago Bulls on September 26, 1996.
The season with the Bulls, 1996-97, would be his 21st (the all-time NBA career
record holder) and final one. 'The Chief' announced his retirement on August
25, 1997, just five days before his 43rd birthday.

So how did this all happen, you ask?

Parish was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. To many Celtics fans,
that is not 'south of the Mass Pike' or 'just this side of Worcester'.
Shreveport, named after Henry Miller Shreve in 1883, is situated in the
northwest corner of the state and almost halfway between New Orleans and
Dallas, Texas.

Woodlawn High School, in Shreveport, was Robert's high school. In the south,
football is the sport and so it ruled at Woodlawn. He played football and
baseball and ran some track, and basketball was not his thing?

"That's correct," Parish stated. "I guess I didn't care that much about it
growing up. I didn't play in a league (or on an AAU team like kids do today).
We didn't have a hoop in the driveway... no driveway, I suppose. But it was
Coleman Kidd, my coach from junior high school, who got me interested in
basketball." (Parish, at 6-4, would help lead his school to the state finals
two straight years and in 1972 he was named Player of the Year in the state).

His next stop was college. He could have gone any place in the country but he
stayed at home and attended Centenary. (When Parish came to the Celtics, fans
would ask, 'where's Centenary?' 'Is that a military school?') Centenary was
not Kentucky or Indiana or North Carolina or UCLA. It is one of the oldest and
smallest Division I schools in the United States.

"I guess I had a little "mystique" about me when I first arrived in Boston,
seeing that not many people had heard of either the city or the school,"
smiled Parish. (Added to the fact that Celtics fans rarely saw him play his
first four years in the NBA as he was with the Golden State Warriors in San
Francisco).

Despite being drafted by the ABA's (American Basketball Association, the rival
to the NBA in the 1970's) Utah Stars after his freshman year, Parish stayed
the course and posted averages of 21.6 points and 16.9 rebounds per game over
108 contests at Centenary. He was named to The Sporting News All-America first
team in 1976. In June, 1976, the Warriors selected Parish in the first round
(the eighth pick overall) in the 1976 NBA Draft.

He spent four seasons with the Warriors and in that span was named to the
second team All-Rookie Team; posted his best year in 1978-79 averaging 17.2
points and 12.1 rebounds (tied for sixth-best in the league) per contest (also
finished fourth in the NBA in blocked shots). He blocked 11 shots against Bill
Fitch's Cleveland Cavaliers team on October 29, 1978 (Fitch had tried to trade
for him but the Warriors wouldn't budge) and fashioned a 30-30 night of 30
points and 32 caroms against the New York Knickerbockers on March 30, 1979.
Then, the move from one coast to the other.

The Celtics had posted the best record (61-21) in 1979-80, but were spanked
out of the post-season festivities in the Eastern Conference Finals,
4-games-to-1, by the Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by Julius Erving, Mo
Cheeks, Caldwell Jones and company. So how did the team with the best record
get the number one pick in the collegiate draft that year?

The Celtics, thanks to the Detroit Pistons who had shipped Boston their two
first-round picks in 1980 in exchange for Bob McAdoo and who had finished with
the worst record (16-66) in the league in 1980, thus, the top pick loomed as a
possibility. Both the Warriors and Utah Jazz had the worst win-loss records in
the Western Conference (24-58) and in a blind draw the Jazz logo was picked,
thus earning that franchise a chance at getting #1. (The Warriors would get
the third pick in the draft).

It was a common practice then that the number one pick was to be determined
with a coin flip by the NBA Commissioner. The coin was flipped and Celtics
fans and management flipped with excitement - the top pick was theirs. But it
wasn't for long as the Warriors traded Parish and the third pick for Boston's
two first-round picks. Golden State selected  Photo: Steve Lipofsky
Joe Barry Carroll at number one; Utah selected Darrell Griffith at number two
and Boston selected Kevin McHale at number three, after receiving Parish
already in the trade - two Hall of Fame players in one day, June 9, 1980. (The
Warriors took Rickey Brown, the 13th pick overall, Boston's other pick that
draft).

"It was an adjustment coming to the Celtics, no question," recalled Parish.
"Coming from a team that won about 20 games to one that had just won over 60,
joining Larry (Bird) and Tiny (Nate Archibald) and Coach Fitch's practices...
oh man. They were long and tough but I probably wouldn't be here today if he
didn't push me and make me a better player."

And the rest is history?

Robert Lee Parish holds the NBA record for most seasons and games played,
respectively, with 21 and 1,611, defensive rebounds with 10,117, and the
career playoff record for most offensive rebounds (571). Just as equally
impressive, his 14,715 rebounds are sixth-best in NBA history, his 45,704
minutes played are also seventh-best, the 2,361 blocked shots are eighth-best
and tops in Celtics franchise history and his 23,334 points are 16th-best
all-time in the history of the league.

Robert Lee Parish pounded the parquet floor for 14 seasons. He helped lead the
Celtics to world championship titles in 1981, 1984 and 1986. He grabbed 500 or
more rebounds every year, posted a field goal shooting percentage of better
than 53% every season except his last one (.491) and helped lead Boston into
the playoffs every year except his last in 1993-94. The stoic and durable
pivot man was a nine-time NBA All-Star; was justly named as one of the 50
Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996 and on January 18, 1998 deservedly had
jersey #00 retired to the FleetCenter rafters (the 21st player in the history
of the franchise to have his number retired).

Robert Lee Parish will join six other Class of 2003 electees: James Worthy,
Dino Meneghin, Leon Barmore, Earl Lloyd, Chick Hearn and Meadowlark Lemon as
the 45th group to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in
Enshrinement ceremonies on September 5th in Springfield, MA.

As Chief (Bromden) reminds us, that a man's actions can speak louder than
words. So true for this Chief and to his brilliant career.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx

[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of 090203Photo_Parish1.jpg]