1983-84 Boston Celtics
The Robert Parish holdout is shaping up as a long and ugly one. The Celtics are waiting to hear from Parish's agent Wayne Traynham, but Traynham said yesterday, "We have a stalemate. Robert is planning on sitting and I haven't been able to talk him out of it."
Traynham added, "Robert felt like the Celtics had made a commitment for an extension of his contract by last Friday. The offer indicated that the Celtics felt like he'd be worth no more than Kevin McHale three years from now. Robert felt insulted." "I'm very sorry to hear that Robert felt our offer was an insult," responded Celtic assistant general manager Jan Volk. "We all feel that what we did offer was quite substantive and anything but insulting."
Volk said that the Celtics aren't yet looking for another center and that trading Parish "is not being actively pursued at this time and I don't think it will be." The Celtics are fining Parish and withholding his salary. They have taken all extension proposals off the table until Parish lives up to his present contract ($650,000 per year), which has three years remaining. "Our position is unaltered," Volk said. "My advice to Robert," said Traynham, "is to do whatever we can do to make progress; but Robert wants to sit out right now. I'm not sure where to go
from here, but we're certainly going to find something. It's time for a little creativity." How long is Parish prepared to sit out? "Unfortunately, all season," said Traynham. "I say unfortunately, because financially it would be a disaster, and it's a terrible blow to the Celtics.It's terrible to even think about. But you'd better believe I've told Robert about that possibility. We've talked about it for hours and he understands." Traynham is Parish's third agent in the last three years. Robert Keefe dropped out of the picture a couple of weeks ago, and Traynham, who lives in Manchester, N.H., took over.
When asked to explain how he came to represent Parish, Traynham said, "I've known Robert for over a year - through my sister-in-law." Asked if he is related to Parish, Traynham said, "No comment." Meanwhile, some Celtic players seem to be a little annoyed with the Chief. A seven-page statement released by Traynham cited Kevin McHale's contract ($4 million over four years) as Parish's primary grievance. The statement didn't make McHale very happy, and other Celtics are beginning to assume that they'll have to carry on without Parish. "I understand why Robert is doing this even though I don't necessarily agree with what he's doing," said Danny Ainge. "If Robert doesn't want to be here, he doesn't want to be here," said Larry Bird. "We got enough talent on the bench. This is gonna hurt us, of course, but we'll get by somehow." "I have no comment on aything do do with contracts," said McHale. "Robert is doing what he feels is in his best interests."
McHale and rookies Greg Kite and Winfred King are the only legitimate centers on the 14-man roster. Cedric Maxwell played some center against Phoenix Saturday night. Coach K.C. Jones is facing the prospect of going without Parish indefinitely. "We've got enough to start the season off," said Jones. "We're not anywhere near what we'd be with Robert, but we have to prepare for that eventuality. Kevin may become the fulltime center." M.L. Carr doesn't think the Celtics have enough to win it all without Parish. "My reason for being here is to win one more championship," said Carr. "Something like this happening puts a real damper on it."
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