Robert Parish

He is a nine-time NBA All-Star and a four-time NBA champion, and he was named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.

Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player.

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 actions 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The NCAA added that the school would not be penalized if it rescinded the five scholarships.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 statistics, 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Within days of its decision, the NCAA repealed the 1.6 rule, but refused to make the five Centenary players eligible.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.

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.

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.

A 7'1" center, Parish played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1976 to 1997. During his 14-year tenure with the Boston Celtics, Parish teamed with Hall-of-Fame forwards Larry Bird and Kevin McHale to form one of the greatest front lines in NBA history.

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.

He went on to play two more seasons with the Charlotte Hornets and one with the Chicago Bulls, winning an NBA championship with the Bulls in 1997 before retiring from the NBA at age 43.

Parish played an NBA-record 1,611 games in his career.

He played in 21 NBA seasons, tied for second-most in league history.

Aside from his career longevity, Parish is known for his strong defense, rebounding, and high-trajectory jump shot.

The Celtics retired his jersey in 1998.

Parish was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Robert is the son of Robert Sr. and Ada Parish.

He is the oldest of their four children.

Parish was already 6ft 6in 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; on the day they passed out the uniforms in junior high school, it was the only jersey left.

"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; I give all the credit to him."

Parish attended Woodlawn High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he played for Coach Ken Ivy.

He had previously attended Union High School until it was closed due to desegregation.