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ROSEMONT, Illinois \u2013 There are very few looks on the NBA hardwood that would even stop TV viewers at home in their tracks out of fear, from the late 1970s into the late \u201890s \u201cThe Chief\u201d gave that intense-intimidating stare. A tone setter in the middle of the paint with the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics during their dynastic run throughout the 1980s, Robert Parish (7-1, 240) crafted a 21-year career right into the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
For the fiery looks on the court, Mr. Parish couldn\u2019t be any nicer off it.<\/p>\n
Making an appearance at the 2025 National Sports Collector Convention, the nine-time NBA All-Star took time to answer questions about his career with Beckett.<\/p>\n
Interview<\/p>\n
Mr. Parish, you produced an amazing NBA career. From your rookie season to building into championship form with the Celtics (1981), what was that journey like for you?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was sacrifice, dedication, and focus. What I liked about working towards the championships, we all forgot about the name on the back. We were all playing for the name on the front, the Celtics. And I think it\u2019s one of the reasons why we were successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who were some of the other centers and power forwards you enjoyed playing against that maybe brought out the best in you?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Robert-Parish-RC.jpg\")
1977-78 Topps #111 Robert Parish RC<\/p>\n
(Smiles) \u201cI didn\u2019t enjoy playing against any of them because they were all bigger and stronger than I was, but two players that brought out my better game was Moses Malone and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar).\u201d<\/p>\n
What was it like going up against them? How was it to defend them and trying to score on them?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I knew that I was going to have to get my rest first of all, because it definitely was a challenge. They were formidable opponents. They gave me problems both offensively and defensively because both Moses and Kareem were gifted offensive players and they were solid defensively. I had my work cut out on both ends of the court. I couldn\u2019t take a day off.\u201d<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s game, guys exchange jerseys, shoes, things like that. I\u2019m sure you weren\u2019t exchanging jerseys with guys \u2013<\/p>\n
\u201cNO (laughs). No. Pride wouldn\u2019t let us do that. But I do like the camaraderie that today\u2019s athletes have. A Lakers jersey, a Detroit jersey, or a New York jersey \u2013 hell no (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n
Going into the collecting hobby; if it was the guys that maybe you idolized growing up that helped influence your game, are there any players that came before you, if it was Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, or whoever, do you have any of their stuff in your collection?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have any of their memorabilia, but I followed their careers, and I tried to pattern myself after the way they played the game. Kareem, Mr. Russell, and Mr. Chamberlain, those were my idols at the center position. I watched them closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last question. Being on all those great Celtics teams, do you have anything saved that brings a smile to your face when you walk into the room and see it?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the sentimental type to be honest. I look at the championship rings and the jersey as a symbolic symbol. But the only award that I look at with pride when I look back on it, is my Hall of Fame induction. I didn\u2019t see that one coming\u2026 I didn\u2019t see that coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow-up question on that. How could you not see that coming, you had an amazing career?<\/p>\n
\u201cI never looked at myself\u2026 I never viewed myself as a Hall of Famer. I knew that I played on great teams, and I was a great player, but when I retired, I thought that was the end of all my accolades and awards. I never even dreamed of being a Hall of Famer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Parish\u2019s Career at a Glance<\/p>\n
High School: Woodlawn (Shreveport, Louisiana)<\/p>\n
College: Centenary (1972-76) \u2013 21.6 points and 16.9 rebounds per game for career<\/p>\n
NBA Draft: No. 8 in 1976 by the Golden State Warriors<\/p>\n
NBA teams played for: Warriors (1976-1980), Celtics (1980-1994), Charlotte Hornets (1994-96), and Chicago Bulls (1996-97)<\/p>\n
NBA Championships: 1981, 1984, 1986, 1997<\/p>\n
Career statistics: 23,334 points (14.5 ppg), 14,715 rebounds (9.1 rpg), 2,361 blocks (1.5 bpg)<\/p>\n
Hall of Fame inductions: Centenary (1988), Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (2001), College Baseball Hall of Fame (2006), Basketball Hall of Fame (2003)<\/p>\n
The Celtics retired Parish\u2019s 00 jersey on Jan. 18, 1998.<\/p>\n
Listed as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROSEMONT, Illinois \u2013 There are very few looks on the NBA hardwood that would even stop TV viewers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[1222,49,48,459,40304,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-62125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-boston-celtics","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-robert-parish","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}