Robert Parish on The Original Big 3, and Guarding Kareem

http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=12334502&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B"ref"%3A"http%3A%2F%2Fcelticsgreen.blogspot.com%2F2015%2F02%2Ffiddlin-and-diddlin-celtics-daily-links_17.html"%7D



bob



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I had better luck with this URL.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12334502

Terrific interview.  Only thing I didn't like was that it was a little too much "Robert Parish, Witness to Greatness" and not enough of how the Chief was an integral part of the greatness.

It would have been nice to hear a little more about the Chief's approach that allowed him to play so well for such a long period of time.  The guy was just so consistent it was almost spooky.   For over a decade he always averaged between 15-19 ppg while shooting around 55% and getting 9-10 boards and protecting the rim. And this was year after year after year.

Chief also often came up big in key moments.  After the '84 game two Henderson steal, he preserved the win in OT by switching out on Worthy and stealing the pass; in game four he locked up the win in OT with a three-point play that fouled out Jabbar; in game seven, he killed a desperate LA rally by blocking and stealing a Magic pass.

Bird made it a point to welcome hot shot rookies to the league by kicking their young butts.  Chief did the same thing.  I recall he killed Olajuwon the first time they played.  When asked about it post game, Chief just said, "Tonight I be playing the man game."

Yeah, Chief played the Man Game.

Whatever conversational route Simmons chose, Robert looked as though he was enjoying every second of it.

Sam