Career wise, Robert Parish has a pretty strong argument to be the third best player that played for this Bulls team. He's not Jordan or Pippen, but I have a hard time taking anybody else over The Chief. The guy played for 21 years, is the all time NBA leader in games played, made nine All-Star teams, won four NBA Titles, and was a no brainer Hall of Famer. He also wore 00 as his number which is definitely the coolest number for a player to have. Parish had one hell of a career.
But his contributions to the Bulls, although admirable, do not put him in the upper tier of players in that 90s Dynasty. Parish joined the Bulls during his final NBA season for the 1996-97 season. Not surprisingly, he would have career lows in just about every statistical category. Of course this is understandable for a man who was 43 years old at the time. He still managed to play in 43 games and even got three starts. He also had a number of highlights like this buzzer beating dunk.
Or the time he got 5 rebounds in 15 seconds?
And finally, my personal favorite, only because YouTube is a damn treasure trove of random NBA highlights, here is a game where Parish scored four points against the Charlotte Hornets. It appears to be completely meaningless which only makes me love it more.
In the playoffs, he provided veteran leadership, although mostly from the bench as he got in just two games during the second round of the playoffs and did not play thereafter. It would still be enough for him to become the oldest player in NBA history to win an NBA Championship.
The Chief's career will never be defined by his time with the Chicago Bulls. What he did earlier in his career, primarily with the Celtics, was enough for him to be named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. His longevity is unmatched, and even at age 40, he was putting up nearly 12 points per game. He will go down as an all-time great; I just hope this ranking on the Bulls Dynasty list doesn't stain his legacy.
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