He’s become a punchline. But Chandler Parsons shouldn’t have to live out his life as that. Once a promising player who was contributing to a winning team, his career has since spiraled to the point where he is simply known due to his contract negotiations of 2016 with the Memphis Grizzlies.
After averaging over 14.1 points per game over three seasons with the Houston Rockets, and 14.8 points per game over two with the Dallas Mavericks, Parsons signed a max deal with the aforementioned Grizzlies which would pay him $94 million throughout four years. It must be mentioned that even at the time of the signing, there was more backlash than usual for a deal of this magnitude, due to the fact that Parsons played out all four of his years at Florida, meaning that even though he had five years of experience in the league, he was already 27 years old at the time of the deal. What happened over the next couple of seasons did not help his case either. Parsons would end up only playing in 95 games over his first three seasons of the deal, mostly due in part to having two surgeries on his knees. The first a minor procedure to help an ailing microfracture, and the second to repair a partially torn meniscus about a year later. Even once he had recovered from the surgeries, he struggled to find time with the Grizzlies as he still had recurring knee pains and soreness, meanwhile the organization seemed ready to move on with younger talents. By the end of his third season with the team, Parsons had gone public with his unhappiness which resulted in his salary being dumped to the Atlanta Hawks for the current season. So far, Parsons has appeared in only five games in which he is averaging 2.8 points as he has again found himself in a similar scenario where he is both battling injuries and losing minutes to younger talent.
All of this has led up to the tragic news that was released from the Hawks earlier today. When driving home from practice earlier this week, Parsons was involved in a three-car crash that was initiated due to a drunk driver. As a result, he suffered many injuries including a torn labrum, disc herniation, and a traumatic brain injury. It is now unclear if Parsons will ever be able to play in the league again, which is something you never want to hear for any player.
But, rather than simply sending my best to him, I felt I should acknowledge the many great things Parsons has accomplished over his career. Remember the things he should be remembered for. The moments and reasons why he got his bag in the first place.
Within an already stacked 2011 draft class, which now features seven different all-star caliber players along with many other talented players, Chandler Parsons was selected 38th overall by the Rockets. Due to the fact that he was already 23 years old in his rookie year, he was able to contribute to the Rockets success within that first year, averaging 9.8 points per game in 28.6 minutes. In turn, earning him a spot on the All-Rookie 2nd Team. Over the next four years, Parsons would average over 15 points in three of those years while never shooting below 37% from three, including one season with the Mavericks where he shot 41% from behind the arc. It was that skill set in particular that made teams want him, his ability to stretch the floor consistently from the power forward position made him a unique and dynamic offensive weapon that is now being seen all across the association. At the peak of his career, Chandler Parsons was not only a starting talent on a winning team, but he was also a top three scoring option on said team, which is a claim many NBA players can not make. Nothing can showcase his ability to score the ball better than one of my personal favorite NBA memories. During his last season with the Rockets, Parsons had a record breaking night where he scored 10 three-pointers in one half. For perspective, the record for threes in a total game was recently set by Klay Thompson, who hit 14. Parsons had 10 in one half, mind you. Truly an amazing heat check level performance.
Even throughout all of the lows of his career, many people still held hope that Parsons could find a role on some team in the coming years as a high-level shooter. While these may have just been rumors at best, it is upsetting to now know that the likeliness of this happening is close to zero. It now seems like Parson’s career is over and, while he probably did not accumulate a hall of fame level career, he caps off a successful one where he finishes with a career 14.7 Player Efficiency Rating along with 28.9 career Win Shares. Not to mention the $127+ million in guaranteed money he will have made by the end of the season. So, while his name may continue to be used as a punchline, I ask that as a group, us fans remember Chandler Parsons for more than that. I also ask, on a non-basketball note, to stop drinking and driving. There is no such thing that exists that should persuade you to drive under the influence. I know it has been said countless times before but I am going to state it again. It’s not just you that gets affected when driving drunk. It hurts others too. With that, I applaud you on a great career Chandler Parsons and I hope for a speedy recovery.
(All stats used come from basketball-reference.com.)
-Noah Kokkinos
thesplitcutwrites.water.blog 