Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953), nicknamed "the Chief", is an American former professional basketball player. A 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.
Early life Robert is the son of Robert Sr. and Ada Parish. He is the oldest of their four children.
Parish was already 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.
College career
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. The NCAA lists seasons by the calendar years in which they end.
Team USA 1975 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.
College legacy 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.
Professional career
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."
In 307 games over four seasons, Parish averaged 13.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks with the Warriors.
Boston Celtics (1980–1994)
Heading into the 1980 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics lost Dave Cowens to retirement and had Larry Bird ready to start his second NBA season. The Celtics held the number one overall pick in the draft.
On June 9, 1980 in a pre-draft trade, Celtics president Red Auerbach dealt the top overall pick and an additional first-round pick to the Warriors for Parish and the Warriors' first-round pick, the third overall. With that pick, the Celtics chose Kevin McHale. The Warriors then selected Joe Barry Carroll with the first pick.
Reflecting on the trade after his retirement, Parish said, "I was surprised initially. But once I hung up from the Warriors after they called me and told me I was being traded to the Boston Celtics, I cheered and I jumped up and down ... because I went from the (penitentiary) to the penthouse in my opinion... Being traded to the Celtics changed the trajectory of my career."
Playing 14 years with the Celtics from 1980 to 1994, Parish won three NBA titles (1981, 1984 and 1986) while teamed with Bird and McHale. The trio came to be known as "The Big Three", and is regarded as one of the greatest frontcourts in NBA history. Parish, Bird, and McHale were all named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Parish was nicknamed "the Chief" after the fictitious Chief Bromden, a silent, giant Native American character in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. According to Parish, former Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell gave him this nickname because of his stoic nature.
Parish was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1981–82 and to the All-NBA Third Team in 1988–89.
Parish is the Celtics' all-time leader in blocked shots (1,703), offensive rebounds (3,450) and defensive rebounds (7,601). In 14 seasons and 1106 games with the Celtics, Parish averaged a double-double of 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, shooting 55.2% from the floor.
Charlotte Hornets (1994–1996) On August 4, 1994, at age 41, Parish left the Celtics and signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Charlotte Hornets. Parish spent two seasons with the Hornets, playing as a backup to Alonzo Mourning for the 1994-95 season, and starting 34 games during the 1995-96 season.
Chicago Bulls (1996–1997) On September 25, 1996, Parish signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bulls after his release from Charlotte. With Chicago, Parish joined a team coming off a fourth championship with fellow Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoč and Dennis Rodman.
Playing his final NBA season with the Chicago Bulls in 1996–97, he won his fourth NBA title. Parish played a reserve role for the Bulls. He remained in the NBA until the age of 43. On August 25, 1997, Parish retired from the NBA.
Career statistics and records As of 2026, Parish is second on the list of National Basketball Association career games played leaders with 1,611 games played, behind only LeBron James, and is tied for second-most seasons played in NBA history with 21. He is the oldest player to win an NBA championship, having been a member of the NBA champion Chicago Bulls in 1997 at the age of 43. He is also the third-oldest player to ever play an NBA game (the two oldest players to have played in the NBA are Nat Hickey and Kevin Willis).
Overall, in 1,611 NBA games, Parish averaged 14.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks, shooting 53.7% from the field. In 184 career playoff games, Parish averaged 15.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks, shooting 50.6% from the field.
As of 2023, Parish ranks fifth in NBA history in career defensive rebounds with 10,117 and fourth in playoff career offensive rebounds with 571.
Legacy