Parish Welcomed Back to Team

1983-84 Boston Celtics

Robert Parish skipped this eight-day Western trip and there is undoubtedly some underlying resentment among the Celtics, but it'll be tough to uncover. The 1983-84 Celtics think they have enough talent to win a championship, and it wouldn't be very Celtic-like to blast a fellow teammate at this juncture - even if Parish did threaten to sit out the year because the Celtics are paying Kevin McHale more than him.

News of Parish's imminent return was greeted with predictable relief before last night's exhibition game with the Lakers. "I think it's great," said guard Quinn Buckner. "I was hoping he'd get back before we got halfway through the exhibition season. He's obviously an important part of what we do."

Is there any resentment? I think there's some potential for that," cautioned Buckner. "But we're a veteran team and we're fortunate that we have a steady captain like Larry Bird and veterans like M.L. Carr and Dennis Johnson. The veterans went out and just kept playing. We never even talked about Robert." Gerald Henderson, who has one year at $105,000 left on his contract, added, "I'm sure if the players thought he didn't deserve it, there would be some dissension among the guys. But there's no question that the guys know Robert deserves it. This wasn't very good timing for us, but he had to do what he thought was right."

McHale, who started four games at center in Parish's absence, said, "I'm glad Robert got squared away. It's nice to have the team back intact. This means I won't be having as much time at center, which is probably just as well. I wasn't really comfortable playing 25 minutes at center." Danny Ainge agreed, saying, "Now I can start working on my outside shot instead of my post moves. The way Kev played the other night (3 of 16 from the floor), I thought I'd have to start playing center." "I knew Robert was going to be back," said Bird. "Guys can just sit out so long."

Coach K. C. Jones said, "I'm happy about it. I'm happy it worked out and that he'll be back with the squad. He's been out for a while and I think his conditioning will have suffered. We'll have time to work him now, and hopefully when his time comes, he'll be where he's supposed to be." Jones isn't worried about Parish's holdout causing any dissension. "I feel he has the respect of his teammates," said Jones. "They respect his points and I don't think we'll have any hard feelings."