Robert Parish is one of the NBA’s most successful players.The 7-foot-1 center is known best for his 14-year tenure with the Boston Celtics, but the big man also teamed up with Michael JordanParish was 43 at the time of his 1997 NBA championshipGETTYParish was destined to be great right from when he dominated the NCAA at Centenary College. He averaged 21.6 points and 16.9 rebounds in his four years at college between 1972 and 1976.Parish was never recognised for his achievements at college as a result of his ineligibility due to his college not using a standardised test that did not fit the NCAA’s eligibility formula.Centenary College was placed on probation because it refused to recind Parish’s scholarship after using the wrong test. It meant he and the college were barred from postseason play, and its statistics and results were excluded.Therefore, Parish’s numbers are not included in the official record books of the NCAA, leading to many calling him the ‘invisible man’.Robert Parish at the Golden State Warriors.Parish was drafted in the first round of the 1976 NBA draft, after also being drafted by the Utah Stars in the 1973 ABA draft and the Spurs in 1975.When Parish eventually arrived in the NBA, he grew a reputation for being lackadaisical during his four seasons for the Golden State Warriors.He did improve after his rookie season and put up solid numbers with 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds for the Warriors in his last three years with the team.However, Parish’s situation was anything but rosy, the Warriors were a franchise in turmoil and headed in the wrong direction after their 1975 championship.The team missed the playoffs completely from 1978 to 1980, leaving Parish hopeless as a player who wanted more. Paris also won three championships with Bird at the CelticsGETTYRobert Parish nearly quit the NBAParish was so upset at his situation at the Warriors, he thought about retiring just four years into his career.“I was seriously thinking about having a very short basketball career before the trade because of all the losing that I experienced with the Warriors, and being blamed for the Warriors demise.” Parish said of his time with Golden State“I understand that because I was the No. 1 player taken (by the team in the 1976 draft) and the blame falls on my shoulders. “But basketball is not an individual sport. It’s a team sport. And I just feel like the team was an assembly of misfits and too much independent thinking. “Guys were thinking about themselves as opposed to the team.”Luckily for Parish, he would hit the jackpot in 1980. Heading into the 1980 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics lost Dave Cowens to retirement and had star in the making Larry Bird, ready to start his second season.So the Celtics traded their No.1 pick for that year’s draft for Parish and the Warriors’ No.3 pick after needing a player with size.Parish was now joining a team that was also rebuilding, but much more organised than the mess that the Warriors were in the late 1970s.“I was surprised initially. But once I hung up from the Warriors after they called me and told me I was being traded to the Boston Celtics,” Paris said, reflecting on the trade. “I cheered and I jumped up and down … because I went from the (penitentiary) to the penthouse, in my opinion… Being traded to the Celtics changed the trajectory of my career.”Parish had an immediate impact on the CelticsWhile we can’t pretend that the Parish and the Celtics won the NBA championship in his first season because the centre came to Boston, he was a massive reason.Parish won the NBA championship in his first season with the CelticsGETTYHe was their second leading scorer with 18.9 points per game on that team, only behind Bird.Parish was also influential in taking out the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference finals in 1981 after being 3-1 down.And he was also kept Moses Malone quiet in the NBA Finals as Boston took down the Rockets in six games.After that championship, a dynasty was brewing.After the Celtics won that NBA title in 1981, they added two more, in 1984 and 1986, with Parish a key player in all.Bird, Parish and Kevin McHale formed “The Big Three” and were regarded as one of the greatest frontcurts in NBA history.Paris had his jersey retired with the Celtics in 1994GETTYParish was nicknamed after a Hollywood starParish was also handed the nickname “the Chief” after the fictitious Chief Bromden, a giant but silent American character in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The nine-time NBA All-Star said that his former teammate Cedric Maxwell gave him this nickname because of his stoic nature.After 14 years in Boston and becoming their all-time leader in blocked shots, offensive rebounds, and defensive rebounds, Parish called time and left the franchise.In 1994, at age 41, Parish joined the Charlotte Hornets as an unrestricted free agent, spending two years there as a backup to Alonzo Mourning.Then in 1996, he signed with the Chicago Bulls, a team coming off a fourth NBA championship and became teammate with stars like Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and Denis Rodman.In his final season in the NBA in 1996, Parish had the perfect farewell.Winning his fourth NBA title in a reserve role for the Bulls and calling time on an illustrious career.