HoopsHype.com Rumors

SI: What could you get on Michael about? Barkley: That's easy. He is so damn black. And he's not the best-looking guy in the world. Why do all these women think he's good-looking? If Michael Jordan was a damn plumber, he couldn't get a date. Any guy got $500 million looks good. SI: You and Larry Bird could go at it, too. What did you get on him about? Barkley: That's easy, too. He ain't the best-looking guy in the world either. We used to call the Celtics the ugliest team in NBA history. [Kevin] McHale, [Robert] Parish and Bird? Damn. SI.com

Boston Celtics, Michael Jordan, Kevin McHale, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

Robert Parish, “The Chief,” rarely talked to the media and never hung around with Celtics teammates after a game. Associates say he would not answer his phone, letting messages go to voicemail. After leaving the team in 1994, he let his connection to the Green fray and fade, even to the point of selling off his 1986 world championship ring for spending money. So it was a surprise when this resolute loner picked up the phone at his home in North Carolina on the third ring. “People shouldn’t feel sad; they should help me get a job,” said the Hall of Fame center with the deep voice on the other end. “I need a coaching job in the NBA. I’m restless and I need money. ” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Coaching, Robert Parish 

Parish, 59, said that Bird and McHale, both of whom have held coaching and front office jobs in the league (McHale is the coach of the Houston Rockets), have done nothing to help him in his quest to return to the NBA, although he says he has reached out to them. He calls his Hall of Fame teammates “acquaintances.” “In my case, I don’t have any friends,’’ Parish said. “I saw Kevin at an event; he said he was going to call me. He never called. I called Larry twice when I was at the Indiana Pacers; he never returned my call. And not just Larry. Across the board, most NBA teams do not call back. You need a court order just to get a phone call back from these organizations. I’m not a part of their fraternity.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Coaching, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

Bird has a rather different recollection. Traveling, he sent a concise text in response to questions from the Globe: “Robert never called me for a job. Period.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Coaching, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

McHale, for his part, expressed remorse in a voicemail. He said he tried to hire Parish when he was in Minnesota, but “I went back and checked . . . we were actually reducing spots at the time. Then I was let go from Minnesota.” He says he saw Parish later, when McHale worked for TNT. “I feel terrible about the whole thing, but I just didn’t have a position,’’ McHale said. “I would have loved to have hired Robert if something would’ve came up.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Coaching, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish 

Pressed for a further explanation, he answered, “I don’t know. I would not consider myself part of Larry’s inner circle, like he’s not in my inner circle. Same thing with Kevin. He’s not in my inner circle; I’m not in his inner circle. Same thing with Danny. You know we respect each other. We had the camaraderie, obviously, collectively, on the team because of our success on the court. But off the court, you know, we weren’t hanging out going to dinner, drinks, going to the movies, double dating, whatever you wanted to do. We weren’t doing any of that.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Danny Ainge, Coaching, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish 

Parish is pressed on his relationship with Ainge. He responds by reaching back in time, telling a story about how Celtics president Red Auerbach and coach K.C. Jones once asked him to take fewer shots because Dennis Johnson and Ainge wanted more scoring opportunities. The Chief readily agreed. “Danny is selfish, even after I made the sacrifice for him and DJ, he still asked to be traded.’’ Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Trade, Danny Ainge, Coaching, Robert Parish 

Several years ago, his representatives reached out to all 30 NBA teams. Only two called him back. Now he’s trying harder. “I’ve been guilty of that, too, not returning phone calls.’’ he said. “We all have. “ He says he’s not angry at his teammates, either. “I have never sat here and said those [expletive] didn’t call me back. Not one time. I am very proud of this fact.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Coaching, Robert Parish 

Parish, who earned roughly $24 million in 21 years in the NBA, says he needs a job with a substantial six-to-seven-figure salary. “I don’t want to have to start over. I’m not homeless and I’m not penniless, but I need to work.” Parish, who lives in an immaculate, tastefully decorated tan stucco home on the edge of a golf course, says his money was drained away because he wasn’t working and he was “too generous” with family, friends, and significant others. “There’s no need in crying about that now. I’m not making no excuses ’cause I’m to blame. I enjoyed it. I don’t want to come across as Poor Robert.’’ Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Coaching, Robert Parish 

“That will never go away,” he says. Parish, who says he smoked marijuana to relax after games, says he stopped smoking in 1995. “But people don’t believe that, and I’ll never live it down.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Coaching, Robert Parish 

“They had all kinds of forwards out there,” McHale said. “I think it’s a sad state when you can’t (find) enough centers in our league anymore to fill up the roster. I don’t know if it’s a position-less game. If Moses Malone was playing right now and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish, you’d have centers. I don’t know where they went. They went the way of the dinosaur, I think". Houston Chronicle

Houston Rockets, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone 

Robert Parish, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics player who won four titles over more than two decades in the NBA, auctioned his 1981 NBA championship ring on Wednesday. According to GreyFlannelAuctions.com, the site hosting the auction, there were 15 bids for the ring and the winning bid went for $45,578 but the identity of the buyer was not revealed. SI.com

Boston Celtics, Robert Parish 

Parish was the most athletic and ultimately the healthiest of the Big Three. His teammates' physical struggles left him heartsick. "It struck a chord with me," said Parish. "They had two of the best work ethics I've ever seen, and their bodies just failed them. I hated it." The problem was compounded by Bird's demeanor, which habitually soured when he was hurting. "Larry could be a real pain in the backside when things weren't going his way," Parish said. "I have no problem with that [description]," Bird said. "My concern at the end was, 'How's my back going to be when I get out of here?' I played two years in total agony." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

In their final two seasons together, Bird and McHale grew increasingly distant, even mildly antagonistic. The pain and disappointment of their suddenly limited skills wore on both of them. "At that point Kevin was the healthier of the two, and he felt Larry should have deferred to him more," Parish said. "That's when the relationship really started to deteriorate." "The injuries made us all ornery," McHale said. "We were all experiencing the same thing and we were just miserable." "When you are injured, you can't move, you can't do what you want, so you don't want to talk to anybody," Bird said. "You just want to be alone." For McHale, the ultimate indignity was his inability to get a stop on the defensive end. "I'm matching up with players who are nothing special and they don't even see me," McHale said. "They are scoring over me like I'm not even there. "After one particularly rough night, I remember I went home and cried. I cried over the loss of that part of me that had been with me since I was 13 years old." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

Celtic lore tells us Boston fielded proposals that would have sent Bird to Indiana, McHale to Dallas and Parish to Seattle, but Auerbach refused to pull the trigger on any of them. "I will always be grateful for Red for not trading me," McHale said. "It meant the world to me to play my entire career with the Celtics. I know people want to criticize him now but I loved the fact Red said, 'Screw it, these are my guys.' There was real honor to it, something you hardly ever see today." Bird wonders aloud if some of the so-called deals fall under the category of revisionist history. He points out that as late as the 1990-91 season, the Celtics were 29-5 and legitimate contenders before his back went out and McHale sprained his ankle. "I think those trade rumors were BS," Bird said. "Danny [Ainge] can sit there and say he talked to Red about trading us before we got too old, but all I know is I talked to Red all the time and he never -- ever -- told me, 'I could trade you for Chuck Person' or anyone else." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

There, he regained an appreciation for Bird's leadership style. "What set Larry apart from Magic and Jordan was he wasn't an in-your-face leader like they were," Parish said. "He had too much respect for us. If you weren't having a good night, he was more inclined to encourage you, or not say anything at all. "But Magic and Jordan would jump all over you." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan, Kevin McHale, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

In one of his first practices with the Bulls, Parish botched one of the plays and was amused to find Jordan jawing at him just inches from his face. "I told him, 'I'm not as enamored with you as these other guys. I've got some rings too,' " Parish recalled. "At that point he told me, 'I'm going to kick your ass.' I took one step closer and said, 'No, you really aren't.' After that he didn't bother me." Parish said he should have retired at least two years sooner than he did, a fact that was drilled home to him repeatedly in Bulls workouts. "By the end, Luc Longley and Bill Wennington were killing me in practice," he said. "Clearly I stayed on too long." Parish remains an avid fan of the NBA and is impressed with how the current Big Three have handled their final days. "Those three guys gave us a reason to be proud of the Celtics again," Parish said. "I give Paul Pierce all the credit. He put his ego aside for the betterment of the team. That speaks volumes about him as a person." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Paul Pierce, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Robert Parish 

Robert Parish, one of the NBA's 50 greatest players, had an early birthday party at National Taiwan University Saturday. Parish, who will be 58 on Aug. 30, celebrated his birthday along with 10 10-year olds. While blowing out the candles on his cake, the former NBA star expressed the wish that he could "celebrate a few more birthdays." Focus Taiwan

Robert Parish, Taiwan 

O’Neal has said he’s ready to accept a complementary role, but Parish believes the future Hall of Famer possesses enough skill and presence to make a dramatic difference in Boston’s interior game. “I was happy about the acquisition of Mr. Shaquille O’Neal, it was a good move because the Celtics are trying to win it now,’’ Parish said last week. “Before the other veterans run out of gas, [Kevin] Garnett, [Paul] Pierce, and [Ray] Allen. So their mission is to try to win it now. I think between those two guys [Shaquille and Jermaine O’Neal] in the middle, the center position is secure.’’ Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Parish 

“Shaq can still start for at least 15 teams, maybe 20 teams,’’ Parish said. “I would say that time has caught up with him but he can still be a factor and not to mention defensively. He’s long and has a lot of mass and is going to take up a lot of room and that definitely is where the Celtics’ strong suit is, defensively. I think that’s where he gets it done. I think Shaq will definitely bring a defensive presence along with Garnett. He’s going to cause a lot of havoc defensively and he still can get it done offensively.’’ Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Parish