Chandler Parsons (2007-2011) – Small Forward
Chandler Parsons was one of the best players from the late Billy Donovan era, leading the Gators to an Elite Eight his senior year for the first time since the back-to-back national championship seasons. He leveraged that college success into an NBA career that lasted nine years before being jeopardized earlier this year by injuries he sustained in a car accident.
Parsons was born in Casselberry, Florida, before moving to Winter Park, where he attended Lake Howell High School with future Gators teammate Nick Calathes. The pair led Lake Howell to three-straight Florida 5A final fours, winning the championship their senior year in 2007. That season, Parsons was a first team all-state selection and was the MVP of the state championship game with a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double.
A four-star recruit, Parsons committed to back-to-back defending national champion Florida and coach Billy Donovan. His first season in 2007-08, he wasn’t a starter but averaged 20.7 minutes in 36 games with 8.1 points and four rebounds as UF missed the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators missed the tournament again his sophomore year, though he was more productive, starting 28 of 36 games with 9.2 points and 5.7 rebounds a game. Though he only started 18 games his junior season, he still managed a career-best in points with 12.4 a game as well as 6.9 rebounds. That season, he hit a 75-foot buzzer-beater shot on the road to stun North Carolina State on its home floor, and Florida made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed, losing in the first round to BYU.
But Parsons saved his all-around best season for his senior year. He started 35 of 36 games that season, averaging 11.3 points and career-highs in assists and rebounds with 3.8 and 7.8, respectively. He hit another buzzer-beater shot, this time a three to beat South Carolina, and he was named the 2011 SEC Player of the Year, the first UF player ever to receive that honor.
Florida made the NCAA Tournament again that year, winning games in the first three rounds against UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and BYU before stumbling against Butler in the Elite Eight.
Despite his collegiate success, Parsons fell to the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft and was selected by the Rockets with the 38th pick. During the 2011 NBA lockout, he played for French team Cholet Basket before debuting with Houston, with which he started 57 of 63 games as a rookie and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.
He started every game he played in for the next two seasons with the Rockets, averaging double-figure scoring in both (15.5 in 2012-13 and 16.6 in 2013-14).
He became a restricted free agent in the summer of 2014, and when he received a three-year, $46 million offer from Dallas, the Rockets didn’t match. Parsons made his debut with the Mavericks that fall, starting every game he played in again. But injuries limited him to just 66 appearances, and despite averaging 15.7 points, he was sidelined again in the first round of the playoffs against his former team, this time causing him to miss the remainder of the season.
He averaged just 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 2015-16, both the lowest since his rookie season, and once again struggled with injuries, as a torn meniscus in late March cost him the rest of the year.
Still one of the top free agents in the 2016 cycle, Memphis eventually signed him to a four-year, $94 million deal that offseason.
He didn’t live up to the Grizzlies’ expectations, however. He averaged career lows in points (6.2) and rebounds (2.5). He started all 34 games he played in, but once again he saw his season cut short due to injuries.
Injury became a recurring theme for Parsons in Memphis. He only played in 51 games over the next two seasons and started just 11. He was kept under a double-figure scoring average both seasons.
With his relationship with the Grizzlies stagnating and a pricey deal not working out, Parsons was traded to Atlanta on July 6, 2019. He appeared in five games with the Hawks, averaging 2.8 points, before he was hit by a drunk driver in his car on Jan. 15, 2020. According to his attorney, he suffered a traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum, and his injuries could be career-ending. While rehabilitating, he was waived by the Hawks on Feb. 5.
Parsons was one of the greatest players of the post-national title era of Gators basketball. A four-year contributor who hit multiple legendary game-winning shots, Parsons overachieved in the NBA based upon his draft position. Though the final few seasons of his NBA career saw stagnation and his career is currently in danger of ending under tragic circumstances, Parsons’ legacy as a Gator leaves him as one of the best to wear the orange and blue in recent memory.
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