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Why Robert Parish says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best opponent he ever faced
In an episode of the Showtime podcast with Michael Cooper, Robert Parish detailed how his NBA tenure began, facing up against Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
“In the playoffs, we played the Lakers, back then it was Best-of-3, and so I’m feeling real good about myself… and then I went up against Kareem. Big fella averaged 39.9 [points] and 15, 16 rebounds in 3 games, very humbling experience,” Parish said laughing.
Parish also told Michael D. McLellan the reason why Kareem was just so good.
"Kareem is the best player I ever played against, period," Parish said. "The best thing I could ever say about Kareem is that no one ever devised a defense that could stop him. He figured out a way to exploit every defensive scheme ever thrown at him.”
Finding success
It is hard to find Championship-level success in a rookie or sophomore season in the NBA, but Kareem did just that. In only his second year in the league, Kareem won MVP, Finals MVP, and an NBA Championship, dawning a new era for the league.
One of the best to ever do it
Kareem would continue to excel even after his time with the Bucks, breaking the NBA scoring record with what many thought would be an unbreakable record, even though it was broken earlier this year by Lebron James. Nevertheless, Parish believes that Kareem was the greatest to ever play.
Some of his descriptions sound positively familiar to a Bucks player on the current roster, another freak of nature who brought the only other championship to the Bucks organization. Hopefully, history repeats, and further success comes Milwaukee’s way, led by their new star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will try to get his name alongside KAJ once it's all said and done.
