Latest / Stugotz and Company / The Big Stuey: The Chief! (w/ Robert Parish)

Transcript

The Big Stuey: The Chief! (w/ Robert Parish) · Stugotz and Company

0:07
Speaker 1: We have an absolute legend, a Hall of famer joining
0:10
Speaker 1: us today on Stu Gatz and Company. It's Celtic's legend,
0:14
Speaker 1: Robert Parish. I know he played for the Bulls as well,
0:16
Speaker 1: played for a couple of teams, but Celtics legend Robert Parish,
0:20
Speaker 1: and he's got a new memoir called The Chief, the
0:22
Speaker 1: Story of the Boston Celtics most enigmatic icon.
0:26
Speaker 2: Chief.
0:26
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us. What about the
0:29
Speaker 1: book or what about your story? Is your favorite part
0:31
Speaker 1: that you want to share with people?
0:34
Speaker 3: Me as a person, That's why I did the memoir.
0:39
Speaker 3: I have evolved, elected the transformation that has occurred with myself.
0:46
Speaker 3: I think I'm a softer, easier to get along with.
0:53
Speaker 3: I just think I'm all around a better person now
0:55
Speaker 3: so and I'm not change the growth that I have
1:01
Speaker 3: experienced over the last few years. The book would have
1:04
Speaker 3: never happen, and so because I would not have allowed
1:08
Speaker 3: myself to open up personal, personally and intimately like the
1:14
Speaker 3: book of Reveals or by my upbringing about how basketball
1:18
Speaker 3: a lot got started and my family and my social life.
1:23
Speaker 3: I would have never shared that. But now that I not,
1:28
Speaker 3: it's distant and anti people, anti social whatever you want
1:33
Speaker 3: to call it. I felt like it was a good
1:35
Speaker 3: time to do the book.
1:37
Speaker 2: Chief.
1:37
Speaker 1: What made you if you were to look back and
1:40
Speaker 1: think of all the things, I mean, it's probably a
1:41
Speaker 1: long list, But what would you say made you that
1:44
Speaker 1: really defensive, kind of protective person that didn't allow you
1:49
Speaker 1: to share these types of things with people.
1:52
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know whether it's genetics or learned behavior.
1:58
Speaker 3: My pops similar traits, So I don't I know, I
2:03
Speaker 3: know where I got it. I don't know how I
2:04
Speaker 3: got it. I know come from my pops. I do
2:07
Speaker 3: know that, right, But you know, he wasn't really a
2:12
Speaker 3: people person either. So like I said, I don't know
2:15
Speaker 3: whether there's a learned behavior through genetics, but I certainly
2:20
Speaker 3: have those characteristics that my pops had, you know, in
2:23
Speaker 3: terms of keeping people at a distance, you know, And
2:28
Speaker 3: I'd be the first to say, I know I give
2:29
Speaker 3: off that impression at being distant and dismissive and those
2:34
Speaker 3: tendensees you know, learn or inherited from my pops.
2:40
Speaker 4: Definitely, Robert, what's changed in the last couple of years
2:44
Speaker 4: that allowed you to open yourself up and write a
2:46
Speaker 4: book like this, Well, my woman.
2:52
Speaker 3: Been suffering in media for they'll.
2:55
Speaker 2: Do that to you, Robert, They'll do that to you.
2:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I need to do better, especially with
3:02
Speaker 3: my interaction with people. You know, I need to get
3:05
Speaker 3: people a chance. You know, I need to uh not
3:08
Speaker 3: be so anti people. Uh, to be honest, I prefer
3:12
Speaker 3: my own company. And I'm still likely I'm just better
3:16
Speaker 3: at opening up and being uh more sociable with people.
3:22
Speaker 3: And she just kept it and kept it and kept it,
3:25
Speaker 3: and she she had a valid pump. I can't give
3:28
Speaker 3: it no pushback on that. I really can't give it
3:34
Speaker 3: no pushback on that one, you know about the people,
3:37
Speaker 3: because I know it's me. I know, Uh it's not
3:42
Speaker 3: so much that, uh, I'm not trusting people. I just
3:48
Speaker 3: prefer my own company. That's all nothing against the human race,
3:51
Speaker 3: because I'm a part of the human race.
3:54
Speaker 2: I just prefer my own company. They love yourself, Yes, Yes,
4:01
Speaker 2: I gotta be honest.
4:01
Speaker 4: I'm with I mean, I don't want to I don't
4:03
Speaker 4: want to hang around people.
4:04
Speaker 2: I just want to.
4:07
Speaker 3: You know, that's me, and and she she has the point.
4:11
Speaker 3: You know, I need to open up. You know, I
4:13
Speaker 3: need to not be as anti people as I was.
4:20
Speaker 3: And I actually I feel better about it. To be honest,
4:25
Speaker 3: I think I'm a better person.
4:27
Speaker 2: I'm not. I'm not as hard.
4:29
Speaker 3: And and distant and that whatever attitude like I used
4:33
Speaker 3: to have when it comes to people. Now she she
4:36
Speaker 3: made a better point, and not to mention because I'm
4:39
Speaker 3: a better person. I think I'm better at I'm better
4:43
Speaker 3: relationship material because of that, because I'm softer and not
4:47
Speaker 3: its you know, things and things not going right whatever.
4:51
Speaker 3: You know, I don't have that whatever attitude anymore. You know,
4:54
Speaker 3: I'm willing to sit down and work at it, talk
4:57
Speaker 3: about it, smooth things out.
4:59
Speaker 2: So you went from a to a teddy bear. Yes,
5:02
Speaker 2: we get carried away. Not too far?
5:04
Speaker 1: Okay, you go too far?
5:08
Speaker 2: I am better say that.
5:10
Speaker 4: But it seems like you found someone who loved you
5:12
Speaker 4: for exactly who you were and just said, hey, I'm
5:14
Speaker 4: going to take this person, mold them, and make them
5:16
Speaker 4: an even better person than the one I fell in
5:17
Speaker 4: love with.
5:18
Speaker 2: Is that fair? I think that? Fanta say she my
5:22
Speaker 2: woman name is Esther.
5:24
Speaker 3: She has been very patient, very tolerant, very indulgent of
5:30
Speaker 3: mind peculiarities, we'll say that. And so I felt like,
5:36
Speaker 3: you know, she deserves for me to do better. To
5:40
Speaker 3: be better, to act better. You know she deserves that.
5:44
Speaker 3: So because she how she had been with me, that's
5:49
Speaker 3: the least I could do to try to be a
5:51
Speaker 3: better person for her and for us. I think now
5:55
Speaker 3: our relationship is better, now solid, it's tight now.
6:00
Speaker 1: Robert, It's funny that you mentioned, you know, your antisocial
6:04
Speaker 1: nature or whatever, keeping people at a distance, when you
6:06
Speaker 1: made so many people happy over sixteen hundred more than
6:10
Speaker 1: sixteen hundred NBA games. Lebron just tied you for most games.
6:16
Speaker 1: What when you think of having played in all those
6:19
Speaker 1: games and that record that lasted as long as it
6:21
Speaker 1: has until Lebron, Now what makes you proudest of that.
6:26
Speaker 3: Availability? Debility? It shows longevity endurance. So if anyone, for
6:40
Speaker 3: me personally, anyone was to challenge that record or break
6:43
Speaker 3: that record, I think it should be Lebron James because
6:47
Speaker 3: his attention to fitness and diet mirrors my philosophy fitness
6:58
Speaker 3: and diet, and so I like how he takes care
7:01
Speaker 3: of himself first and foremost. We all know that he's acceptional,
7:07
Speaker 3: the talent and a gifted and all of that, But
7:11
Speaker 3: I think one of the main reasons why he's been
7:13
Speaker 3: able to sustain this level of plate and this longevity.
7:18
Speaker 3: That's how he takes care of himself. Because I'm a
7:21
Speaker 3: firm believer and I can speak from experience. The better
7:24
Speaker 3: your fitness is, the least likely you're gonna have a
7:28
Speaker 3: catascropic injury. Now you're gonna get you're gonna get nicked up,
7:32
Speaker 3: banged up, but I'm talking about a significant injury. Less
7:38
Speaker 3: likely to happen the better your fitness is, And I
7:41
Speaker 3: think I'm a testament of that. Lebron is a testament
7:45
Speaker 3: of that. You know, you got to take care of yourself.
7:48
Speaker 3: That's pair amount, first and foremost. Forget about the basketball.
7:52
Speaker 3: Your fitness, your dietary, what you put in your body
7:57
Speaker 3: is also equally important if you want to maintain it
8:02
Speaker 3: and sustain a long career in the athletic arena.
8:07
Speaker 1: Chief you, it must drive you crazy when you watch
8:10
Speaker 1: or hear about all this load management and all these
8:12
Speaker 1: players sitting all don't.
8:16
Speaker 2: Get it right.
8:16
Speaker 4: By the way, you're also talking to a guy in Israel,
8:18
Speaker 4: good Eras, who has been to the gym already today.
8:20
Speaker 4: I will go two more times before the day is
8:22
Speaker 4: of Like.
8:27
Speaker 2: Uh.
8:28
Speaker 3: To answer your question, Uh, I don't understand it myself
8:33
Speaker 3: because think think about this today's NBA. They don't do
8:37
Speaker 3: two days in training camp anymore. They do one to days.
8:42
Speaker 3: They don't practice. I tell my woman all the time.
8:47
Speaker 3: Practice in the NBA today like going to the SPA.
8:51
Speaker 2: You yeah, steam in the ice tub.
8:58
Speaker 3: J cousday, you get SAgs that swim. You know they
9:03
Speaker 3: got a swimming pool now you can go swim. The
9:05
Speaker 3: only thing they probably don't provide. You can't get a
9:08
Speaker 3: manicure in the pedicule.
9:15
Speaker 1: What were the Boston Celtics practices like walk us through
9:18
Speaker 1: those back.
9:18
Speaker 3: Of brutal Oh, I'm a practice is well? Playoff games atmosphere?
9:26
Speaker 2: Uh.
9:27
Speaker 3: The coaches were the referees and they did not call
9:30
Speaker 3: fouls unless there was a hard fire. You got knocked
9:33
Speaker 3: down and almost trampled, then they called the foul. Basically,
9:38
Speaker 3: they just sucked on the whistle and let us play.
9:42
Speaker 3: What that did though, it toughened us up mentally and
9:46
Speaker 3: physically got us ready for the NBA Ryan and I
9:51
Speaker 3: think he wouldn't. This is just my personal opinion. I
9:54
Speaker 3: think if if the NBA today practiced more, they kept
10:00
Speaker 3: themselves in better shape, I think they'd be less injuries
10:04
Speaker 3: less significant.
10:05
Speaker 1: Well, you're not the first person that said that. I
10:07
Speaker 1: just heard Stan Van Gundy talk about that, because how
10:09
Speaker 1: do you prepare your body for all this and then
10:12
Speaker 1: not practice it. You've got to practice a little bit
10:15
Speaker 1: and really sort of harden your body for the kims, Right, Chief.
10:18
Speaker 3: I got another question for you. What's up being that
10:21
Speaker 3: they don't practice like they used to? Training camp is
10:24
Speaker 3: not as vegamous? How can they be tied? How can
10:32
Speaker 3: you how can you even fix your lips to say
10:35
Speaker 3: I need a game with two off? I'm gont tied.
10:38
Speaker 3: I'm gonna have to run down. How is that even possible?
10:42
Speaker 2: I don't know.
10:43
Speaker 4: I don't know, but I would vote for you as
10:44
Speaker 4: commissioner of.
10:45
Speaker 2: The n b A. I was. I was wondering how
10:47
Speaker 2: we change that.
10:48
Speaker 1: Enough people like you saying this.
10:50
Speaker 2: I would be today.
10:57
Speaker 3: I would be fired, no question. And my players came
11:00
Speaker 3: to me and asked me for a game off or
11:03
Speaker 3: games off, I would say, you sit beside me until
11:06
Speaker 3: I get tired of looking at you.
11:11
Speaker 2: You can't sit the stalls down, now come on, Oh
11:14
Speaker 2: the ship will tell me you got to go.
11:16
Speaker 1: Robert, Robert, I think the answer might be you, But
11:22
Speaker 1: who's your funniest teammate over the years, because right now
11:24
Speaker 1: you're cracking me up.
11:25
Speaker 4: But your funniest teammate, Oh, it's got to be Sadric Maxwell.
11:28
Speaker 4: That would be my guest down down.
11:34
Speaker 2: You know.
11:34
Speaker 3: He he kept you know, he didn't looked for something
11:38
Speaker 3: to talk about. You know, your your your shoe might
11:41
Speaker 3: not be tired of, hair cut is not quite right,
11:45
Speaker 3: or you need a half cut, or your outfit is
11:48
Speaker 3: not as fashionable, you know if he thinks it should be.
11:53
Speaker 2: He just looked for things, you know, talking about.
11:55
Speaker 3: He kept it going, always talking trash it and he
12:01
Speaker 3: got the perfect job for Civic right now talking.
12:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, he loved I love that. I love you.
12:10
Speaker 4: You're not trying to talk to anyone and Cedric is
12:13
Speaker 4: just wearing you out because he won't stop. He loves
12:16
Speaker 4: it getting ready for the game every day. And you're like, man,
12:19
Speaker 4: if I wear this, Cedric is going to roast me.
12:20
Speaker 4: I can't wear this.
12:23
Speaker 2: That I never forget.
12:24
Speaker 3: One time I came I came to the to really
12:28
Speaker 3: you know, I always consider myself to be a good dresser,
12:31
Speaker 3: fashion mode dresser. And one day I came to the game.
12:36
Speaker 3: I had a blue sock in a black sock on,
12:39
Speaker 3: and they were booth dark and the black. You know,
12:44
Speaker 3: it's similar. Oh, man, dude, road back, I got from
12:48
Speaker 3: there from Sybec.
12:49
Speaker 2: Oh, he talked.
12:53
Speaker 4: Because he's looking for things to talk about, right, Oh,
12:55
Speaker 4: you know that.
12:56
Speaker 2: He looked for something to be out of place.
12:58
Speaker 1: Definitely, Robert speaking of things looking out of place. Sometimes
13:03
Speaker 1: it feels like Victor weiben Yama is out of place
13:06
Speaker 1: on this earth. It doesn't seem like an actual human being.
13:10
Speaker 1: When you see the evolution of the center position. Uh,
13:13
Speaker 1: you know, obviously compared to how you play it, how
13:15
Speaker 1: you played it, What do you think of what you're seeing?
13:19
Speaker 3: I like the way the big man big man played
13:23
Speaker 3: the game today for this reason. Even though they out
13:26
Speaker 3: on the perimeter more than I like or prefer, they
13:31
Speaker 3: still do big man things. And what I mean by
13:34
Speaker 3: that they care, They take care of the defensive end.
13:38
Speaker 3: They still rebounding, they still blocking shots, they still having
13:42
Speaker 3: the defensive presence, they still doing the transition game. They
13:46
Speaker 3: still doing big man things on the other end. And
13:49
Speaker 3: that's why I don't have a problem with the today's
13:52
Speaker 3: athlete the way they the today's center play that position.
13:57
Speaker 2: The only thing I would say about women.
14:00
Speaker 3: I wish he would play with it back to the
14:02
Speaker 3: basket more because nobody can defend that except for maybe
14:07
Speaker 3: the big fellow down there in Oklahoma.
14:09
Speaker 2: Check.
14:11
Speaker 3: He may be the only one that could challenge win
14:15
Speaker 3: me down low because he has the left to do it.
14:19
Speaker 3: But anyone else there's a serious mismatch if he ever
14:24
Speaker 3: had the mindset to mix it up more inside. I
14:28
Speaker 3: know he's a little thin and a little lighting in
14:30
Speaker 3: the backside, but I wish you could work on that
14:34
Speaker 3: that down low post game.
14:37
Speaker 4: Uh, just two quick questions, we'll get you out of here. Robert.
14:39
Speaker 4: We appreciate the time when Cedric Maxwell gave you the
14:43
Speaker 4: nickname a chief.
14:44
Speaker 2: What was your initial reaction to it. I really didn't
14:49
Speaker 2: have one.
14:49
Speaker 3: So when I first came to the Celtic, I was
14:52
Speaker 3: just trying to fit in, to get along, and I
14:55
Speaker 3: didn't want to cause any kind of disturbance.
14:58
Speaker 2: You know. I tried not to come in in here.
15:00
Speaker 3: You know, would coming to the Celtics like room with
15:02
Speaker 3: a chip on my shoulder, because when you go to
15:04
Speaker 3: a new team, you want to fit in, you want
15:07
Speaker 3: to find your place, and that's what I was trying
15:10
Speaker 3: to do. And so only time I really talked, to
15:12
Speaker 3: be honest, when I was hyping the movie One flew
15:15
Speaker 3: the googool Nest like, man, you guys got to check
15:18
Speaker 3: this movie out, man right, all time best movies, so
15:22
Speaker 3: clearly said when he watched the movie, and he was.
15:25
Speaker 2: Like, you know, you just like the Chief, never say nothing.
15:29
Speaker 2: You had them all food. That's hilarious.
15:35
Speaker 4: Now, Larry was quiet. Larry was quiet off the court,
15:38
Speaker 4: but on the court he never shut up.
15:39
Speaker 2: Is that fair?
15:41
Speaker 3: Oh?
15:42
Speaker 2: Larry was well, I'll tell you what. He was quiet
15:45
Speaker 2: around people he didn't.
15:46
Speaker 3: Know, right, Okay, but people that he knew, Larry talked
15:50
Speaker 3: trash like sid all the time. I just don't know
15:54
Speaker 3: that about Larry. Larry was a legendary trash talker. And
15:59
Speaker 3: what I respect about Harry trash talking. It didn't matter
16:02
Speaker 3: where he was ten for ten of five out of twenty,
16:06
Speaker 3: he talked trash until the last second, t non stop
16:11
Speaker 3: talking regardless.
16:13
Speaker 2: He was consistent that way right.
16:16
Speaker 1: Robert Harris's memoirs are called The Chief, the Story of
16:21
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics most enigmatic icon. Robert, thank you so
16:24
Speaker 1: much for joining us. I see that you played till
16:27
Speaker 1: forty three Lebron's only forty one. You think he's going
16:29
Speaker 1: to play till forty three just to sort of match
16:31
Speaker 1: you or break your record there? Because I feel like
16:33
Speaker 1: he's just got you in his sights.
16:35
Speaker 3: At the level he is playing it. He can because
16:39
Speaker 3: he's still playing it at an all star level. Yes,
16:42
Speaker 3: and so if he chooses to, and I don't know
16:46
Speaker 3: whether now he might be might have to take a
16:49
Speaker 3: pay cut. I don't know about that. I don't know
16:52
Speaker 3: whether his ego would allow him to take a pay
16:55
Speaker 3: cut because of who and what he is as an athlete.
16:59
Speaker 3: But he certainly can play for another couple of years
17:02
Speaker 3: if you choose to, because he's playing at the old
17:05
Speaker 3: star level right now, you.
17:06
Speaker 1: Saw the Lebron rule make a salary cap exception for
17:09
Speaker 1: anybody over forty He doesn't count against the cap a.
17:13
Speaker 2: Right, I like you?
17:16
Speaker 4: Yes, final question here, we play a game around here.
17:19
Speaker 4: It's called shot for your life. Okay, so you need
17:22
Speaker 4: to choose one of these two guys to take a shot.
17:25
Speaker 4: Your life depends on it.
17:26
Speaker 2: Okay, it's just a big game. You want this guy
17:28
Speaker 2: taking your shot?
17:28
Speaker 1: Okay, come in me like that, litten, know who's gonna
17:33
Speaker 1: do the killing, but your life will end.
17:35
Speaker 4: And it's a three point shot as the as the
17:37
Speaker 4: clock is winding down here, okay, and you have two choices.
17:41
Speaker 4: To your left is Larry Bird. To your right is
17:43
Speaker 4: Michael Jordan. Who's taking that shot for you?
17:45
Speaker 2: Robert? Is it a three pointer? Yes? Three point three pointer? Yes?
17:51
Speaker 3: Oh, Larry Bird, Larry Birder, Steph Kurt, Larry Birder, Steph pointer.
18:01
Speaker 2: Oh, I gotta go to Stephan.
18:04
Speaker 3: Wow. Wow there, Think about this, man, Think about this.
18:09
Speaker 3: Because of Stephen Curry outside shooting, he changed and revolutionized
18:14
Speaker 3: the n b A think about that.
18:17
Speaker 2: He changed the way the NBA today is played.
18:20
Speaker 3: The game is played deafinite Curry and as you as
18:23
Speaker 3: you gotta know whoever wins the championship, that's the blue
18:27
Speaker 3: pint of how to win a championship.
18:30
Speaker 2: And that's why you say all the three point shooting.
18:32
Speaker 3: Now because the Warriors, I mean you had the Warriors wanted,
18:35
Speaker 3: but basically a three point shooting. So that's the blue
18:39
Speaker 3: print print on how to win the championship. So that's
18:42
Speaker 3: why you got everybody a lot of them should not
18:45
Speaker 3: be shooting threes. Yes, everybody's shooting three pointers now.
18:49
Speaker 1: But shot for your life. You can't make a wrong
18:51
Speaker 1: choice there between Larry and Steph.
18:53
Speaker 2: Well though I.
18:57
Speaker 3: Both either way, you go, you gotta he ticks in
19:00
Speaker 3: the chance that it's gonna go.
19:02
Speaker 4: In, you're gonna right. Uh yeah, well I don't know.
19:05
Speaker 4: Two point shot. You're going Jordan over Bird there.
19:09
Speaker 2: Two point two pointer. I'm with Michael back on this.
19:14
Speaker 2: Man wants to live. He knows to make.
19:17
Speaker 4: Michael from two and Curry from three. That's right, Robert,
19:23
Speaker 4: good luck with the book. We appreciate the time. This
19:25
Speaker 4: has been a thrill. Dad after all of us. Man,
19:27
Speaker 4: we're huch fans, and thank you.
19:29
Speaker 3: Guys for for your time, and also I want to
19:32
Speaker 3: wish you to continued success going forward with your show.
19:35
Speaker 2: Thank you, Chief really means a lot. I like this
19:37
Speaker 2: new Chief. I gotta be honest with you. Yes, such
19:39
Speaker 2: a nice guy. I love the old Chief though that's
19:42
Speaker 2: a problem. Thank you very much. You are welcome, sir,
19:47
Speaker 2: Thank you all right,