Can you imagine losing the likes of Bill Russell and Dave Cowens, yet still not feeling the drop-off? That’s what Celtics fans felt in the 80s. Succeeding two franchise greats was never going to be easy. But if someone could do it, it was Robert Parish. Forming one of the greatest front courts in league history along with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, The Chief helped Boston remain a dominant force throughout the 80s.

Recently, Parish spoke with EssentiallySports to discuss his upcoming book, The Chief, which he co-authored with writer Jake Uitti, set for release on March 10, 2026.

The four-time NBA champion opened up about his remarkable playing career, as well as several topics related to the current state of the league and its players.

Your new book, The Chief. What inspired you to write it?

“Well, the genesis behind it, the motivation, the thorn that spurred me on, just to get my fans, my haters, much love to both groups of supporters. Other than the athletic side, just give them a personal look at who and what I am and what inspired me. I have always seen when I talk about myself, my parents, the reason why I am who and what I am. So just to give an inside look, a personal look outside of the athletics.”

What’s something that you want the younger generation of basketball fans and players to take away from your book?

“Just be true to who you are. I think the book says that understanding, appreciating, and being thankful. I am very grateful for athletics and for basketball, and let everybody know you have a talent.

No matter what that talent is, we are all blessed with a talent, we are gifted with a talent. If you don’t get into the spiritual or religious side of it, we’re all being gifted with some talent, whatever that talent may be. Well, just be true to who you are.

Yeah, true to who and what you are. Excuse me, go ahead.”

You described moving from Oakland to Boston as being like moving from a penitentiary to a penthouse. How happy were you that you were able to get away from a non-contender, really, like a non-playoff team, and then go to Boston?

“Obviously, one of the best things that happened to me, absolutely, was being traded to Boston, having the right personnel around me. I always feel like I had solid coaching when I was with the Golden State Warriors, with Al Adams and Joe Robbins as the coaches, but the supporting cast was weak. One of the big differences in the organization itself is about winning, period.

I mean, winning at a high level, not just reveling in the season’s success or being grateful and thankful for making the playoffs. In Boston, their mentality is that if you don’t win the championship, it was not a successful year—the same thing with the Lakers.

The Lakers have the same mentality. The Lakers are all about winning championships. If you don’t win the championship, it was not a successful year in Los Angeles or in Massachusetts.

That’s one of the things I respect about the Boston Celtics organization. They’re all about winning. First of all, in my opinion, all the executives who are hyping and selling this philosophy to their fans and their supporters, ‘We are a perennial playoff team,’ f-ck that. If you don’t win the championship, making the playoffs don’t mean sh-t, in my opinion.”

Was that tough, the pressure every year? Basically, it’s a win or a failed season. That’s got to be tough.

“It wasn’t tough. For me, it was more of a challenge to strive to be the best team we could be and to achieve as much success as possible. The first time I walked into the Boston Garden, I looked up at the rosters, my rookie year.

It made me proud. I was not even a member of the Celtics organization. Just to see all those banners, all those retired jerseys, all of those division titles, championship banners, all of that, my little chest took out.

It had nothing to do with me. I was just proud of the organization, their accomplishment, their legacy. Then, the irony of it, come 360 or 180 or whatever, I became a Celt. I was saying to myself, ‘How about this?'”

At what point did you know that the Celtics were the real deal in your first season?

“Training camp. I knew right then we had a chance to win it—training camp. Ryan, everybody’s in shape but me. When I got traded to the Celtics, I took the summer off. I didn’t train.

The valuable lesson that I learned about taking the summer off, the year I got traded, the 79-80 season, or should I say the 80-81 season, was that there are no off-seasons. You’ve got to stay on it year-round. There is no off-season. That’s the valuable lesson I learned. It also taught me a valuable lesson: you cannot love what you do for a living in order to perform at a high level. You’ve got to be in love with it.

It’s got to be a serious love affair. In order to be the best you can be at it, you got to be all in. That’s what taking that summer off taught me.”

You had arguably your best series against Philly in ’82. What was it like going up against a super athletic center in Darryl Dawkins?

“Oh, challenging. I was just thankful. I look back on it now, and I’m thankful that Darryl didn’t take playing basketball as seriously as I did. Because had he taken it as seriously as I did, I would have been in more trouble than I was. He was already formidable in a handful. But if he were all in, like in love with it instead of just loving the game of basketball, oh, he would have been scary.

Because he had all the physical, too. He could do it all. Now that’s what I’ve got to touch on. What Shaq didn’t take serious was the fitness part of it. He took playing the game seriously. Because look how he dominated. Think about this, Ryan. If Shaq had taken the physical conditioning, think about this. If he took it as serious as LeBron [James] and Kobe [Bryant] took it, what he would have accomplished?”

I mean, probably the greatest ever.

“Oh, hands down. They couldn’t do sh-t with him when he wasn’t in the best physical condition. And look what he accomplished. Oh my goodness. They would have to do to the game for Shaq what they did for the game when Wilt [Chamberlain] was playing. They would have to alter and change the rules of the game because Shaq would have been so dominant, like Wilt was. Wilt was so dominant that they had to widen the lane to try to take away from some of his dominance. Think about that for a second. And he couldn’t even shoot, Ryan. Think about that.

If Shaq had had a jump shot. That just would have been wrong. I mean, Hakeem [Olajuwon], excuse my language, was a bi-ch. And I mean that in a good way. Oh, you’re talking about a handful and a problem. Hakeem was a problem. Oh, my goodness.

Wilt was a great passer for someone his size. I always feel like Wilt and Bill Walton was probably two of the best passing big men I’ve ever seen, other than that young fella up there in Denver.”

Where would you put Nikola Jokic? I know he’s still got a while to go, but he’s kind of in the all-time centers. Where would you put him?

“By the time he’s finished, if he stays healthy, he’s going to be an all-time great because I have said this about Jokic. He is taller than Kevin [McHale]. I think he may be a little taller than Kevin McHale. He’s today’s version of a Kevin McHale. He’s a better passer.”

What about Patrick Ewing?

“We all know Patrick is one of the all-time greats. Everybody knows that about Patrick Ewing. Patrick is no slouch by any means.”

But he is kind of like a tier lower, right?

“Hakeem is in that category with Larry, Magic [Johnson], Kareem, Wilt, Russell, the best of the best. [Michael] Jordan, they’re on another tier, another level. They’re the best of the best. Moses Malone is in that group, best of the best.”

You had some success against Kareem, right, in the later years? How did you approach it?

“We battled. I got to give a nod to Kareem because of this guy. Only one person I watched that bothered, disturbed, and disrupted that guy who will change.”

Do you think Kareem had the best longevity ever? I know you played for a long time as well.

“In terms of longevity and playing at a high level, yes. And I think LeBron has surpassed Kareem in that category, having played the most years. And LeBron is still playing at a very high level. I believe this is his 22nd or 23rd season, whatever it is.

And look how he’s still performing. And not to mention, he is not losing the appetite for the process. Getting and keeping himself in the best physical condition that he can, because the playing is easy. Just getting in the shape and staying in the shape, that’s the challenge for any athlete. And for him to still be doing it, and think about how long he’s been doing it, because he didn’t go to college.”

Do you think it helped compared to your era, where you’re flying commercial, right? You didn’t have chartered flights back then?

“We didn’t have chartered until the end of my last four years in the league, we started chartering.”

What was the difference between that?

“Oh, big difference. You sleep in your own bed. You get something good to eat every night, because they serve a quality meal on a return flight. And also, the flight going to wherever you’re going, your destination is, you always get something good to eat on a charter, going and coming. That makes a big difference.

After the game, you’re able to get to your next destination that night, as opposed to waiting the following day to travel. Makes a big difference.”

That’s got to help longevity, too, right?

“Absolutely. Everybody in the NBA, playing today, should take a page out of LeBron’s book when it comes to taking care of your body, because he is the godfather of death, the poster child, however you want to describe it. That’s one of the things I admire most about LeBron, because I always pride myself on taking care of my body.

And LeBron takes it very seriously, taking care of himself. And I think it’s one of the reasons why he has experienced his longevity, and one of the reasons why he has not sustained a major injury. He takes excellent care of himself. Yes. And that shows you the importance of physical fitness.”

How do you feel when people exclude Kareem from the GOAT discussion?

“An injustice, that’s what it is. How can you even mention the greatest of all time without mentioning Kareem, or the GOAT? First of all, I don’t think anybody is the best, all-time best.

We’re all some bad m—–f—–s, and some of us are better than others. Anybody who played in the NBA is a bad m—–f—-r, in my opinion. Some of us are just better than others, that’s all. Like that, the top tier is better than the second tier that I’m on. That top tier, you know, the best of the best, the Chamberlain, the Russell, Bird, Kareem, Magic, Jordan, Moses, King, Tim Duncan, you know, those types of guys. They’re on that first tier.”

You played on a 67-win team in Boston, right? And then you also played in a 69-win team with MJ. Which team had better depth, and who played better defense, and was more well-rounded in terms of Chicago and Boston?

“I always get annoyed with the ’86 team because we had Bill Walton. Think about this, Brian. We had an MVP coming off the bench. Nobody had an answer for his long a-s. Nobody. I called him William, I called him Bill. William was a problem. There were days when his feet were not bothering him. He f–ked up crack because we screened every day. Every day we screened. And William was f–king us up. I’m not going to even lie about it.

He made all of us better. Larry, Kevin, myself, DJ, Danny [Ainge]. He made all of us better by playing against him. That’s how effective he was defensively. And he was no slouch offensively. I would feel like he was a better defensive player than an offensive player. Had he not had all the injuries, he would be in the conversation as one of the best ever. No doubt about that.”

There are so many what-ifs in NBA history, right?

“I was going to say that Tracy McGrady was another one. Derrick Rose was another one. Had he not gotten hurt, who knows what he would have accomplished?”

Bill doesn’t get mentioned in that conversation. But I mean, just after hearing what you said, he should, right?

“I played against him every day. He made me better. And not to mention, he don’t get credit for this either Ryan. A legendary trash talker.”

Seriously? I had no idea.

“I tell you what, I’d like to have a dollar for every time I heard, ‘f–k you, Chief. F–k you, Chief.’ We, not me, but Larry and Kevin, because some people may not know this or remember this, William had a slight stutter problem. When he got mad or excited, it was more pronounced. And so Larry and Kevin were talking sh-t about his stuttering. The madder he got, the better he played. He was f–king us up, Ryan. I’m not even laughing. Oh my goodness. He was scary. When he was feeling good, our practices got very interesting.”

What about Larry Bird in the conversation with all-time greats?

“The only difference between Jordan and Bird was that Jordan was more athletic. People don’t realize how good Larry was, Ryan. Larry was an incredible talent. And couldn’t jump over a phone book. Oh my goodness.”

Was Bird the best trash talker you were ever around?

“Larry wasn’t quiet about it. Not when he played, he wasn’t. The three best trash talkers, in my opinion, Bird, Jordan, Bill Walton.”

That’s crazy that Bill Walton was a trash talker. I can’t see it.

“Oh, and he’d be stuttering and spitting. Spit would fly out of his mouth. The crazy thing about their trash-talking is that they could back it up.

It’s one thing to talk trash, and you can’t back it up. You can talk the talk, but you can’t walk the walk. They could back it up. They tell you what they were going to do to you, and they went out and did that.”

You’ve been pretty active on social media lately.

“I always say that I’m old school. It took me a long time to buy a computer. Took me forever to buy an iPad. And not to mention hearing about it from my family members. And my woman giving me sh-t about it. So, it was time. I couldn’t give them any pushback on it. It was time for me to come into the 21st century. It was time.

But to answer your question, the genesis of my being on social media is that I would not be on social media were it not for the book. I’m glad I did. Because now that I’m on social media, I want to send some love to that big fella down in Oklahoma City. Chet Holmgren.

Pay attention to him. One of the reasons why I think Oklahoma City is going to be a force for a while is because Chet is slowly but surely becoming a dominant and significant two-way player. He is improving game by game, year by year. He’s better right now than he was all of last year. But that’s just my opinion.”

It’s probably getting overshadowed just because of how good that team is, right? They’re just a great team.

“Similar to me. People don’t realize how good I was because Larry and Kevin was the focal point. They don’t realize how good I was.”

And you had Dennis Johnson, too.

“Exactly, because it’s better to be underrated than overrated. I take underrated any day, as opposed to being overrated.”

What are your thoughts on the Lakers-Celtics rivalry?

“I want to shine a light on this perception that the Lakers and the Celtics liked each other more than we let on. I talk sh-t about the Lakers, f–k the Lakers, I don’t like the Lakers. But I’m just talking sh-t. I have tremendous respect for the Lakers. There’s nobody on the Lakers team that I do not like.

Tremendous respect on both sides. Like I said, we actually like each other, even though we talk sh-t about the Lakers. We just call them the fakers. They used to talk sh-t about us. We actually like each other. More than we led on. And I think that is overlooked or overshadowed because it’s not sensational news.”

Your nickname is iconic, The Chief. What does it mean to you?

“Stoic. Pensive. Distant. Dismissive. I’m all of that.”

What would you say is the biggest key to your longevity?

“Genetics. Not sustaining a major injury. I’m not a proponent of luck because I think you create your own luck. Luck favors the prepared mind or the prepared body, or both. That’s when I think luck comes into play. You really don’t need luck if you’re prepared.

If you’re mentally and physically prepared, f–k luck. You don’t need luck because you’re going to be f–king sh-t up. What do you need luck for? You don’t need luck. Yeah. Now granted, if you want to call it luck, athletically speaking, you get one of those favorable calls from the officials. I’m not sure if that’s luck or not.

When we get one of those favorable calls or questionable calls that go our way, I think it’s because of Larry. Because Larry Bird had the respect of the officials. And I think every team needs a player that the officials respect. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is that guy for Oklahoma City. He has the respect of the officials. That’s a bad m—–f—-r.”

Shai is getting comparisons to Kobe Bryant, but the mentality is different, right?

“There’s only one Kobe. There’s only one Shai. There’s only one Bird. There’s only one Kareem. If Shai stays healthy, Shai is going to be in the same category, the best of the best—one of one. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to be in that category, in that conversation. The best of the best.”

The Thunder look like they’re going to be good for a long time.

“Jalen [Williams]. He is no joke either. They got depth. They remind me, Oklahoma City reminds me of the Lakers, back when I was balling, the Celtics, and the Bulls, in the 90’s. They play hard, they play smart, and they play together.”

The Thunder are kind of an old-school team, aren’t they?

“Absolutely. That old school mentality. Plus, they play on both ends of the floor. They’re a two-way team. They’re just not kicking your a-s offensively. They play that smothering, disruptive defense, like the three teams I just mentioned, like the Celtics, the Lakers and the Bulls used to play.”

What advice would you give to somebody like Chet, because he has had his injury issues for the first few years of his NBA career?

“Well, he weighs 100 pounds. Of course, he’s going to be injury-prone. I would say the only thing, the only advice that I’d give him, is to take better care of himself. And not that he’s not taking care of himself, but take better care of himself.

Whatever he’s doing, do more of it because you cannot put a price tag on physical fitness. You cannot be in too good of shape. Your physical fitness should be paramount. That comes first before the basketball. Your fitness and diet should be No. 1.

And that’s the advice I would give to Chet. Whatever you’re doing, whatever he’s doing, in terms of conditioning, fitness and diet, do it better. And that would help him with the injuries and all the nagging physical problems he had. The better shape you’re in, the less likely you are to get hurt or injured.”

Is there a player in the league right now that reminds you of yourself?

“No. That fella in L.A. used to, was that Pau Gasol? He reminded me of myself, but he was a better outside shooter than I was, because he had three-point range.”

That’s kind of the biggest difference between your era and now, right? Is it the three-point shot?

“All the bigs. All the bigs have that capability.”

Is there a player in the league today that you enjoy watching other than the players on Boston and OKC?

“Nikola Jokic. I also enjoy watching him and the Denver Nuggets play. I love watching him perform. He’s f–king them up. He kind of reminds me of Larry.

In this regard, he’s slow, he can’t jump, but he is skillful and talented. As I said, he’s a younger version of Kevin McHale. With his footwork, all the fakes, and ball movement, and up and under. That’s a young Kevin McHale. The only thing is, his foot speed is not as quick as Kevin. Kevin moves quicker.”

What do you think of Luka Doncic?

“Luka is playing better because he’s able to sustain it. He doesn’t run out of gas at the end of games anymore because his fitness is better. That was always my knock on Luka. He couldn’t finish games because he ran out of gas. His physical fitness was weak. Many athletes don’t realize the importance and benefits of being in the best possible physical condition. It’s an ongoing process as well.

Whatever your vices are, you’re out there h–ing, dr–ging, drinking, clubbing, you’ve got to get your a-s up and go to the gym the next day. I’m not telling them not to do any of those things because I did. But I got my long a-s up and worked out the next day. Your physical fitness is paramount.”

On Joel Embiid.

“That big m—–f—-r in Philadelphia. Think about how much better he would be if he took his fitness seriously. That bothers me. I keep my mouth shut because I don’t want to sound like that old guy talking sh-t. So I leave that alone. If he took his fitness seriously…”

On load management in the NBA.

“If I was a coach and one of my players came in and suggested that to me, load management, I would bench that m—–f—-r! Put his a-s on the end of the bench, and don’t f–king talk to me either.”

So you’re not a fan of Kawhi Leonard, I assume?

“Oh, hell yeah! I know he got knee issues now, but before he had the knee problem, he was doing that load management bullsh-t. Get your a-s in shape.”

What’s crazy is that in your day, players were playing 80+ games?

“We took it seriously. Everything. We took fitness seriously. We took playing seriously. You’re getting paid to play. My attitude was somebody’s in that arena or somebody’s watching on TV, they’re watching me play for the first time. So I feel obligated to show the f–k up and play, and play the best that I can play.”

On LeBron James’ load-managing.

“Because LeBron has played for so long, I kind of give him a pass. This is his 23rd season. He needs to dial it back a little bit. So I give him a pass. But these other m—–f—–s. Hell no! They don’t get a pass. F–k that. No.

Get your a-s in shape, and you don’t need time off. Barring an injury or you’re hurt. What the f–k do you need time off for, right? I don’t care if he’s my star player, my best player on the team. I will bench that m—-f—-r. Sit the f–k down and don’t talk to me. And I wish you stepped to me too and try to start sh-t because I would chop him in his m—–fucking throat.”

Who would you say is the toughest opponent you have ever faced?

“Hands down, Kareem. He was the only big I ever played against that I could never change or alter his shot. I couldn’t get close enough to him. Kareem was formidable.”

Weirdly, no one has tried to emulate the skyhook?

“First of all, it was a difficult shot. Kareem was blessed and fortunate and gifted, whatever you want to call it. Not only did he perfect it, look at his accuracy.

Kareem shot damn near 60% almost every season with a hook shot. He could get the best look of anybody that I could think of other than [Wilt] Chamberlain. Nobody could stop Chamberlain either.”

Over Michael Jordan, too?

“Oh, yeah. Jordan had to work for his sh-t—all that dribbling and jumping over people. Kareem would just, one, two dribbles and step into that shot. And you couldn’t do sh-t about it either. Jordan had to work hard for his sh-t.”

If you could describe Larry Bird in just one word, what would it be?

“In a word? A b–ch. And I’m not talking about personality. I’m talking about a ball player. People don’t realize that Larry was a bad m—–f—-r regardless of ethnicity. And for whatever reason, they don’t give him, in my opinion, the respect he should get.”

On Larry Bird getting constant comparisons to Magic Johnson

“The only thing Magic got on Larry, Magic got more championships. That’s it. Larry was a better passer. A better rebound. A better shooter. If Larry wanted to, Larry could have done the same sh-t Magic did. Larry had the ball-handling skills, the passing skills, the vision.

Larry was incredible! Like I said, and I mean ‘b–ch’ in a good way. I mean, he was a tough cover. Formidable. The best white player, in my opinion, so far.”

Who’s in that conversation?

“Rick Barry. Chris Mullin. Gail Goodrich. Steve Nash.”

Luka Doncic?

“Luka is not done yet. But it looks like he’s going to be in that conversation. I’m talking about guys who are done playing. Their career is finished. Luka’s career is not finished yet. And that young fella up there in Denver. Jokic.

Their career is ongoing. I don’t think it’s fair to compare them right now, but their career is ongoing. I think you should do the assessment when their body of work is complete.”

On LeBron passing him on the all-time wins list

“I gave him some love because he deserved it and he earned it.”

More on Chet Holmgren and the Thunder

“If he continues his upward trajectory, Oklahoma City is going to be a problem for a long time because now they got that force and intimidator in the middle. They’re going to be a problem with all capital letters. No question.”

The Thunder have been incredibly successful this season, a trend that has carried over from last season’s championship run.

“I think a lot of that, with all due respect to their backcourt, because I think their backcourt is all of that, is the play of Chet. He’s getting better and better, not just defensively, but offensively, too.

He’s playing with all this confidence. I don’t know if it is because of winning the championship or he’s starting to feel better about himself and feel like he really belongs in the NBA. Whatever it is or if it’s a combination of all of that, you can see that his confidence is higher.”