Robert Parish chose a winner between the 1986 Celtics and 1997 Chicago Bulls
"For good reason, we had a better bench."
Over the course of his NBA career, Robert Parish has suited up for two legendary teams.
As one of the original Big Three, Parish spent 14 seasons on the Celtics and played alongside Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge. In 1986, he went head-to-head against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the first round of the NBA Playoffs; in Game 2, Jordan dropped 63 points. The Celtics would win the series and go on to defeat the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals, clinching their 16th banner and Parish’s third championship ring with the team.
Then, after a stint on the Hornets, Parish signed as a free agent with the Bulls in 1997 and joined forces with Jordan – going on to win his fourth NBA championship title with Bulls that season. It was yet another accolade added to his list of career success, and no small feat to have won a title with two iconic franchises.
This week, when he was asked in an interview with Barstool Radio Chicago on Sirius XM who he thought would win a seven-game series, the 1986 Celtics or the 1997 Bulls, Parish chose his original squad.
“The Celtics,” Parish said. “For good reason, we had a better bench. I think that would have been the difference. Our bench was stronger. After Toni [Kukoc], the rest of those guys, you know, just — I’m trying to be polite here — complementary players.”
That’s not to downplay the competitiveness of Jordan, which Parish knows firsthand as both his competitor and teammate. While appearing on the Locked on Celtics podcast, Parish detailed a heated moment he had with Jordan in practice one time when the Bulls’ second team was going against the starters.
“I was talking trash to Michael because he and Scottie was enjoying their dominance over the second team,” he said. “Then when the second team finally got a center that could enhance their abilities, the first team could no longer enjoy dominance over the second team. So I just wanted to let them know that they’re no longer the king on the block…He was at half court and I was at the top of the key. I think he was a bit ticked off, too, because the second team was kicking their butt at the time and I was talking trash.
“I didn’t back down,” Parish added. “He said he would kick my butt, and I told him he felt that strongly about it, come and get some. That was the end of it. We didn’t have another confrontation.”
Parrish would finish his NBA career on the Bulls and retire after that season. He is the Celtics’ all-time leader in offensive rebounds (3,450), defensive rebounds (7,601), and blocks (1,703).
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