How old does a center retire in the NBA without major injuries?

Robert Parish has played more NBA games than any other player in history. He was a 7-foot-1 center who combined strength, agility, and endurance. Parish won three championships with the Celtics in the 1980s, when they had Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, plus Parish, who formed one of the most perfect frontcourt lineups in NBA history. He also won his fourth championship ring with the Bulls in 1996-97.

Parish's signature move was the high-arcing arc jumper. He announced his retirement after the 1996-97 season when he was 43 years old and had played 21 seasons and 1,611 games in the NBA. At the time of his retirement, his 23,334 total points ranked 13th all-time, his 14,715 rebounds ranked sixth all-time, his 2,361 caps also ranked sixth all-time, and his 9,614 made field goals ranked eighth all-time.

Hall of Famer Bill Walton said, "Parish was probably the best big man in the history of the NBA best big man to shoot from mid-range. "It was 1986, the year the Celtics won the championship, and Bill Wlaton happened to be Robert Parish's replacement.

Parish's nickname was Chief, which his Celtics teammate Cedric Maxwell gave him because of a main character in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He spent his college basketball career at University Centenary in his hometown of Shreveport, where he averaged 21.6 points and 16.9 rebounds per game during his four years of college. Because of his exceptional college play, he was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth pick in the first round of the 1976 draft.

The Warriors traded Parish to the Celtics in 1980, and Parish spent an enjoyable and notable 14 seasons with the Celtics. In his 14 seasons with the Celtics, the team made the playoffs 13 times, won the Atlantic Division nine times, went to the Finals five times and eventually won the championship three times.

Parish, who was voted to the All-Star Game nine times a ****, had six consecutive seasons in which he ranked in the league's top 10 in field goal percentage, eight seasons in which he ranked in the top 10 in rebounding average, and nine seasons in which he averaged more than 15 points. He posted a career single-season high scoring average of 19.9 points in 1981-82 and a career-but-season-high 12.5 rebounds in 1988-89.

He signed with the Charlotte Hornets as a free agent in 1994, passing on his vast experience to some of his younger players. He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most appearances in NBA history after two seasons with the Hornets. In the second half of the 1995-96 season, before the start of the 1996-97 season, he signed a one-year deal as a free agent with the Chicago Bulls, who finished that season with an emphatic 69-13 record that no team in the league was able to beat, thus earning Parish his fourth and final championship ring in the NBA with the Bulls.

However, his time with the Celtics was his finest, especially after he formed a front-court trio with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale that was feared by every team in the league.

Parish said, "I'm going to be thinking about the fact that I'm a Celtics ball far most in my heart because this is where my career started and where I've had the most success."

"There were times when it was really hard to believe how strong we were, Parish recalled, and there were games when I was feeling good and I'd go out there and ravage the opposition, and it felt really good, and then I'd look at what Larry Bird and Kevin McHale were doing, and, really, they were doing some of the same things I was doing. Pretty much the same things. It's just something special."

When Parish began his NBA career, the NBA stat charts were always filled with players like Pete Maravich, Earl Monroe, Bob Lanier, Elvin Hayes, Rick Barry, Julius Erving and John Havlicek. oh, yeah. , by the way, Shaq was only 4 years old at the time.

When he was drafted in the first round, eighth overall, by the Warriors, he became a teammate of Rick Barry, Phil Smith and Jammal Wilkes and a teammate who just missed out on the Warriors winning the championship in 1975, the season before Parish arrived. As a rookie, Parish*** made 77 appearances, averaging 9.1 points and grabbing 7.1 rebounds per game. In his second season, he improved his numbers to averages of 12.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Parish continued his steady progression with the Warriors, but his team could only finish in the bottom half of the competitive Pacific Division. During the 1978-79 season, he averaged 17.2 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, finishing 7th in the rebounding rankings, and Parish had a perfect and intimidating night against the New York Knicks in the second half of the season, scoring 30 points and pulling down a career-high 32 rebounds off the heads of his opponents. The following season, the Warriors were once again shut out of the playoffs, finishing dead last in the Pacific Division once again.

Parish ranked 7th in the league in rebounding average for the second consecutive season in 1979-80, grabbing an average of 10.9 rebounds per game to go with 17.0 points and 50.7 percent shooting in 72 games. His Warriors, on the other hand, had to miss the playoffs once again with a dismal 24-58 record. But that year's playoffs took on new meaning for Parish after June 9, 1980, when he went from the Warriors to the Celtics, and the next time he played for another team was 14 years later.

Famous Cardinal Auerbach and the Celtics figured it would be hard to imagine at the time that three new players in two seasons would make such a big difference for the team.Larry Bird was selected by the team in the draft prior to the 1979-80 season. The Celtics then traded two first-round picks (Joe Barry Carroll and Rickey Brown) to the Golden State Warriors for Robert Parish, along with another 1980 first-round pick, which the Celtics wisely used to draft Kevin McHale, and the rest of their history. The rest is their illustrious history after that.

After Dave Cowens abruptly announced his retirement, Parish became the Celtics' starting center, playing all 82 games and turning in a satisfactory average of 18.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, which also started him on a seven-year streak of All-Star Game trips. In the 1981 Finals, Parish did a great job on offense and defense, holding off Houston Rockets power center Moses Malone to help the Celtics win the championship, which Parish won in his first year with the Celtics, the first of his career in the NBA.

Parish*** made 17 appearances in the 1981 playoffs, averaging 15 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Over the next decade, Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale dominated all NBA frontcourt combinations, teaming up to win three championship trophies, when their strongest rivals were Magic Johnson and "Sky hook" Jabbar's Lakers. The rivalry between the two teams lasted for a long time.

Parish was at his best in the 1981-82 season, when he was voted to the NBA's second team of the year and ranked second in MVP voting behind teammate Larry Bird. Because of the outstanding play of both Bird and Parish, the Celtics had a staggering 18 consecutive wins in the second half of the season. Meanwhile, in the 1982 All-Star Game, Parish scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. In the regular season he averaged 19.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, which ranked 20th and 8th in the league, respectively, and he also gave up the most individual hot pots to opposing teams with 192, which ranked 5th in the league. in the playoffs Parish was in even better shape, averaging 21.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, but unfortunately, the Celtics ended up in the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers. Philadelphia 76ers.

Parish's individual performance in the 1982-83 season was still outstanding, averaging 19.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in the regular season. But from the team's standpoint, it was a disappointing season. They finished the regular season second in the Atlantic Division behind the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers with a record of 56 wins and 26 losses. The Celtics played just seven playoff games, and they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals after four games to end their postseason journey early.

The previous season's slump didn't hurt the Celtics later in the tournament. Instead, the trio of Parish, Bird and McHale made last season's disappointment quickly forgotten, and the Celtics went on to win the championship that season. Parish averaged 19 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, ranked seventh in the league in rebounding, and made another All-Star Game appearance. The Celtics met the Lakers, who had Magic Johnson and Jabbar, in the finals and battled in seven games, including two overtime victories on Boston's home court, to make the Celtics the victors.

Parish again ranked No. 7 in rebounding in 1984-85, a season in which he averaged 17.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. His team, the Celtics, finished the regular season with 63 wins and 19 losses, tops among all teams in the league, but this time, they lost in six games to their old rivals, the Lakers, in the Finals.

In the following 1985-86 season, the Celtics won their third championship trophy in six seasons and 16th in their history. The Celtics were 67-15 in the regular season, with Parish averaging 16.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while he was understudying Bill Walton, and then the Celtics went on to face the Rockets, who had beaten the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, in the finals, and ended up being champions once again six games later.

Parish was an All-Star for the seventh consecutive season in 1986-87, averaging 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in his 11th NBA season. Also during this season, he recorded his first and only career triple-double, which occurred on March 29 against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics still made it to the Finals this season, but this time it was they who lost, after six games, to a familiar foe, the Lakers. parish averaged 18 points and grabbed 9.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs. parish missed a game in the second round of the playoffs against the Bucks because of an injury to his left knee, making it 116 consecutive games in the playoffs. 116 playoff appearances snapped.

After last season's loss to the Lakers, the Celtics showed signs of aging and regression as other teams like the Pistons and then the Bulls slowly gained strength. The Celtics never won another championship, but Parish was still a solid performer, averaging 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the 1987-88 season, and finishing 2nd in the league in field goal percentage at 58.9%. This time in the playoffs, the Celtics lost to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, 2-4, ending their streak of four consecutive Finals appearances. record of four consecutive seasons in the Finals.

Parish was voted to the NBA's third team of the year in 1988-89, averaging another double-double, 18.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. But the Celtics finished the season with a dismal record of just 42 wins and 40 losses, and one of the reasons for that was that Larry Bird played in just six games during the season because of heel surgery.

After that season, the Celtics were officially out of championship contention, but Parish would still have a couple good seasons with the Celtics. He posted another season double-double in 1989-90, with 15.7 points and 10.1 rebounds, while finishing 3rd in the NBA in field goal percentage at 58% and making another All-Star Game appearance after a 2-season absence. During the 1990-91 season, he made his second consecutive All-Star appearance, averaging 14.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in the regular season and finishing 2nd in the NBA in shooting at 59.8% from the field on nearly 60% of his attempts.He scored the 20,000th point of his NBA career during the 1991-92 season, a season in which he averaged 14.1 points and pulled down 8.9 rebounds per game.

Subsequently, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, who had a brilliant moment with Parish, announced their retirement in 1992 and 1993, and the Boston frontcourt trio that made all the NBA teams fearful of the year was left with only the lone Parish. When people talk about who the greatest frontcourt player in the history of the league is, they can always hear Robert Parish's name, because at the age of 40, he was still able to take down an average of 11.7 and 7.3 rebounds per game in the highly competitive NBA and played 51 minutes in an overtime game with the defending champions Chicago Bulls at the end of the season and ultimately led his team to a 104-94 victory over the opponents. 94 victory over their rivals.

After Parish left the Celtics to join the Hornets as a free agent for the 1993-94 season, a storied stretch of their history officially came to an end. During his two seasons playing backup center for the Hornets, he surpassed Jabbar's record of 1,560 regular-season appearances to become the NBA's most-played player on April 6, 1996, against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Parish joined the Bulls as a free agent in September of 1996. He played in his record-setting 21st NBA season. During his time with the Bulls, he **** on the court 43 times, including three as a starter, and he ended up with his 4th individual championship to cap off his career.

He announced his retirement with no ceremony and it didn't make a major news story; he simply announced his decision in a pre-season interview.

"The time has come," he said. "It really was time to leave, and it was in my heart."