The Robert Parish Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Wednesday, May 11th, 2005
The Celtics and Pistons waged war on the hardwood. What stands out in your
mind about those physical games with Detroit's Bad Boys?
The
intensity. The competitiveness. The adjustments made by both coaching
staffs. I thought it was two great teams battling one another – one of them
was on the decline, and the other team was on its way up. It was a classic
rivalry – I liken it to the Celtics’ rivalry between teams like the
Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers. That’s how intense it was. It
was a war. I respect those guys and what they accomplished, and how
competitive they were. They were finally able to get by the Celtics and win
a couple of championships of their own. Whether or not you liked the
Detroit Pistons, you had to respect them for the way they played the game.
Everyone, it seems, has a favorite Red Auerbach story. Do you have one that
stands out?
One
thing I always respected about Red was his honesty. He was always honest.
If Red told you something, you could believe him. He never lied. He was
never full of pretense. Red was all about the business of winning
championships. Which brings me to another thing I admired and respected
about Red; whatever we needed, Red always seemed able to find that one
particular player to put us back on top. When we needed someone to put the
clamps on Magic Johnson, Red went out and traded for Dennis. We won the
championship that next season. When we needed someone to provide a spark
off of the bench, Red traded for Bill Walton. We won the championship that
next season. He could always find that player to make us a better team, and
I respected him greatly for that.
That’s the thing I respected about the Lakers, too. They would always go out and get what they needed, whether it was a coach or a player. I liked that about L.A. Hopefully the Celtics will get it back. They’re definitely headed in the right direction, that’s for sure.
Of
your time spent with the Boston Celtics, do you have a fond memory or an
amusing story that stands out most?
Yes.
This has something to do with Johnny Most, our radio announcer. I don’t
know if you know this or not, but Johnny was a chain smoker. I can’t
remember for sure, but it was either Danny Ainge or Kevin McHale who
replaced some of Johnny’s cigarettes with some of those party poppers.
Those are cigarettes that explode when you light the tip. So, they replaced
about five or six of Johnny’s cigarettes. He would light one after another
and they would explode. Well, after about the third one he caught on that
someone had tampered with his cigarettes. He got so mad! He went on this
swearing rampage – he broke out swear words I’d never heard of before
[laughs]. Talk about a colorful delivery! It was one of the funniest
things I’d ever seen in my life.
One time, Johnny fell asleep and somebody tied his shoelaces together. He got up to go to the bathroom and stumbled. I think KC caught him – he didn’t hit the floor – and he went on another one of those swearing tirades. We couldn’t stop laughing, and the harder we laughed the madder he got. Johnny Most had that distinctive voice, and as he got madder his voice got higher. It was unbelievable [laughs].
Let's talk life after basketball. What have you been up to in the years
since retiring from the NBA?
My
first five yeas I did nothing. The last couple of years I’ve been running a
basketball camp with Clifford Ray, a good friend of mine, down in Sarasota,
Florida. We run a big man camp. I’m in my second year as part of the NBA
Legends Tour. I coached in the USBL three years ago, in Maryland. I
coached the Maryland Mustangs.
Final
Question: You’ve achieved great success in your life. You are universally
respected and admired by many people, both inside and outside of the NBA.
If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what would that
be?
Believe
in yourself, no matter what. If you believe in yourself, and have
confidence in yourself, then you can accomplish anything.