Chandler Parsons ended up being a major disappointment last season after he signed a max contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, and many of the home fans are not willing to give him a chance to make up for it this year.
On Wednesday, Parsons came off the bench late in the first quarter and missed his first two shots, which were free throws. Fans could be heard booing him, and they did the same again in the second half when Parsons missed the first of three free throws after he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer.
Rather than taking the high road after the game, Parsons fired back at the fans.
Chandler Parsons describes the “boos” as tasteless pic.twitter.com/eiErxEucg6
— Devin Walker (@Devin_Walker5) October 19, 2017
“They can boo me, they can sarcastically cheer me, they can do whatever they want. It’s tasteless, man,” he said. “It makes no sense. We’re athletes. We’re human beings. I don’t know them personally, so it’s just a little strange to me. But that’s sports.”
As Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal described, Parsons heard some cheers from Memphis fans when Marc Gasol and David Fizdale stood up after his third missed free throw and began enthusiastically encouraging the 28-year-old. Gasol and some other Grizzlies players later criticized the fans for booing.
“I’m not happy with (the booing) at all. It’s our players, we’ve got to support our players. Every single one of them,” the star center said. “Booing Chandler is just booing Mike (Conley) or booing myself. We are one team and I don’t know what’s going through people’s minds but we need to support him.”
The Grizzlies committed $94 million over four years to Parsons, and he averaged 6.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 34 games last year. He has dealt with multiple knee injuries over the past few years, so Memphis took a risk by signing him. Thus far, it has not paid off.
Parsons tried to keep things light by cracking a few funny jokes about his struggles last season, but it’s not a good sign that his frustration is already boiling over. It’s also strange that fans aren’t willing to give him even one full game of the 2017-2018 season before letting him hear it again.
