The Robert Parish Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Wednesday, May 11th, 2005
KC
Jones had this to say about you: "I could talk about Robert all day long. He
had a very good offensive game. He just understood what was expected from him
and he went out and did his job'. Please tell me a little about KC.
I’ve
always felt like KC was one of the better coaches in the league. Personally, I
would rank him among the top coaches ever in the NBA, because of his uncanny
ability to relate to his players. KC knew his Xs and Os, don’t get me wrong,
but the way that he understood his players was the thing that really set him
apart. He was like Red Auerbach in that respect. The one thing that I always
admired about KC – and there a lot of things to admire – was his ability to make
that eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth guy on the team feel like his
role and his input was just as important as one through six or seven. I think
that was one of the reasons why we were so successful. He made everyone feel
important, no matter how big or how small their role was with the Boston
Celtics. Two other coaches come to mind who were like that – Phil Jackson and
Chuck Daly. They were very similar in that regard, and I think that is what
made each of those coaches so successful. In the NBA, it’s so important to
understand the personalities of the players, and how to get the best out of
them. It takes a special talent to do that, and those three guys all had that
ability.
When you talk to KC again, tell him that I appreciate him giving me credit for my offense. With Larry and Kevin playing at such high levels, I didn’t get much credit for my offensive skills – that’s because they shot all the balls [laughs]. I don’t mean that in a negative way – I can’t complain about the formula, because it certainly worked. We were very successful.
From both
a media and fan-interest standpoint, the 1984 NBA Finals may have been the
biggest ever. Please tell me about that series in general, and about your
battles with Kareem in particular.
Kareem
is the best player I ever played against, period. The best thing I could
ever say about Kareem, is that no one ever devised a defense that could stop
him. He figured out a way to exploit every defensive scheme ever thrown at
him. He was so smart and so intelligent, and such an extremely gifted
athlete. I couldn’t change his shot; Kareem was the only player that I ever
played against like that. I think the reason Kareem was so effective with
the hook shot was that he was able to shoot it the same way every time. It
was automatic. Wilt Chamberlain was the only player that I saw who could
make Kareem alter his hook shot. He’s the only one. Other than that,
Kareem was able to shoot it the same way time after time. That’s the way he
was able to become so proficient. Nobody ever got close to that shot,
except for Wilt Chamberlain.
That series against the Lakers was a war. Every game was a battle. Every possession was a battle. You had Michael Cooper guarding Larry. Cooper was one of the few players alive who could guard Larry and consistently cause him problems. He would blanket Larry and make it hard for him to take that quick first step to the basket. He would contest every jump shot. Larry would still put up great numbers, but he had to work much harder at it with Cooper guarding him. I remember Gerald Henderson stealing the ball to save us in Game 2. If he hadn’t come up with that steal, we would have gone to Los Angeles in an 0-2 hole. It was big. I remember getting blown out in Game 3 – we were embarrassed. Magic [Johnson] and James Worthy just killed us in that game – we were behind from the opening tip, and we couldn’t do anything to turn it around. That’s when Larry took his frustrations public. He challenged the team in the paper, and it motivated everyone to play harder. That next game was one of the most physical that I’ve ever played in – Kevin gave Kurt Rambis that clothesline, and Larry was going jaw-to-jaw with Kareem. Nobody backed down. We won that game, and then two of the next three to win the championship. Dennis played great defense on Magic the whole series, but he was especially good against him in those last three games. It was a classic series, and one that I’m glad we were able to win.
The
Celtics won it all again in 1986, with the addition of Bill Walton making
this team arguably the greatest in NBA history. What did Bill bring to the
Boston Celtics, and where, in your mind, does this team rank among the
all-time greats?
In
my opinion, I would have to say that it was in the top five teams of
all-time. What Bill brought to the Celtics was his toughness. He brought
his knowledge of what it takes to win it all, because he was a huge part of
that championship team in Portland. He was a former All-Star, a former NBA
Most Valuable Player, and one of the best passing big men of all-time. And
what made him so special that year was his humility. He had been one of the
league’s greatest players, and yet he was willing to come off the bench and
provide the punch that we needed. He set a great example for that second
unit. He was willing to put his ego aside for the good of the team. Forget
about basketball; how many athletes of his stature would be willing to take
a lesser role for the overall good of the team?
I remember when the Celtics traded for Bill. We had to give up Cedric Maxwell, a good friend and a very good player, and suddenly we have another quality center on the team. Bill didn’t hesitate to call me as soon as the trade was announced. He wanted me to know that I was still the starting center, and that he wasn’t coming to Boston to take my job. He said that he was coming to help. It was a class move on his part, making that call. He didn’t have to do that, either – that was something that he did on his own. He was not asked to call me, or encouraged to call me. That was something that he wanted to do, out of respect for me. And I’ll never forget that. And Bill was always a player that I respected and admired from afar, because I always liked the way he played the game on both ends of the floor. And that’s how I prided myself – I wanted to be consistent on both ends, and not just be a one-dimensional player. And that’s the same way that Bill Walton played the game. He excelled on both ends, and he was probably the best passing big man that I’d ever seen.
Where
were you when you heard the news that Len Bias had died? And what effect
did it have on the future of the Boston Celtics?
Riding
down the highway. Actually I was going down the Mass Pike [Massachusetts
Turnpike] and I heard it on the radio. I thought it was the station’s way
of telling some sort of cruel joke. I didn’t want to believe it. I had to
think twice about what I’d just heard. I was like, ‘Man, they’ve got a
weird sense of humor.’ That’s what I said to myself, because it wasn’t
funny at all. And then it turned out to be true. It broke my heart.
Bias’ death hurt the team in a big way, because he was going to be the next
big star. The heir apparent to Larry Bird. But let’s not forget about
Reggie Lewis. Think how good the Celtics would have been with those two
players. They were going to be the future cornerstones of the Boston
Celtics. In my opinion, we would have won at least – at least – one more
championship if we had both Reggie Lewis and Len Bias.
