The Tragic Real Life Story Of Chandler Parsons

Chandler Parsons certainly experienced a lot of highs throughout his basketball playing career, which had nothing to do with his vertical leaping ability. He was a star player at Florida's Lake Howell High School, where he was named MVP after playing a major part in their team's state championship win in 2007, according to Sportskeeda. He then parlayed his stellar high school play into an athletic scholarship at the University of Florida, where he also had plenty of success. Parsons eventually reached his ultimate goal of getting into the NBA ... but after that, the former Atlanta Hawks star ran into a lot of criticism for inconsistent play and for displaying some admittedly ill off-the-court behavior.

For example, in 2016, he asked model Felicia Sanders to expose her breast during an Instagram Live session, per the Daily Mail. Although Sanders was undeniably the victim in that situation, Parsons himself had to face his inappropriate request making headlines while his reputation took a hit. And along with his standout moments as an NBA player, including landing some high-paying contracts, the athlete was unfortunately often sidelined with injuries.

In January 2022, Parsons announced his retirement from the NBA, which put a cap on what seemed to be a stressful time for the small forward as a pro basketball player. Let's take a look at some of the struggles Chandler Parsons has had to endure.

Just four years into his NBA career, Chandler Parsons' injuries unfortunately began taking away from his playing time in a significant way. In April 2015, for example, while playing for the Dallas Mavericks, he had to miss much of the first round of the playoffs against his former team, the Houston Rockets, due to a nasty knee injury (via SB Nation). And that was after his bum knee caused him to miss the last six regular season games, as FanSided reported. He did play one game in that Houston playoff series, however, but only scored 10 points.

Parsons returned the following season, but once again missed the end of it after having knee surgery, per ESPN. Mind you, the Dallas Mavericks had signed Parsons for $46 million in 2014 and surely expected to get way more bang for their basketball buck. Once Parsons signed with the Memphis Grizzlies in July 2016, not only did he miss the preseason, as well a bunch of regular season games due to knee problems, but he also tore his meniscus in his left knee, had surgery, and missed the end of the season for the third straight year. 

"To suffer a setback like this after working so diligently to rebound from the injury to his right knee is obviously tough," the team's general manager, Chris Wallace, stated at the time, noting that the main focus was "getting [Parsons] healthy" again. Talk about having terrible luck.

When an athlete receives a potentially career-ending injury due to something he or she did while playing, it's probably hard for that person to get over it. But when another person's reckless behavior causes the injury, it's likely even more of a challenge. On January 15, 2020, Chandler Parsons was the victim of someone else's poor decision when he was struck by a drunk driver in a three-car collision. 

The Atlanta Hawks star was driving home in his 2017 Rolls-Royce following a team practice at the time of the incident. After going to the Hawks' training facility, it was determined that he had whiplash as well as a concussion, per TMZ. However, Parsons also suffered "multiple severe and permanent injuries," including a "traumatic brain injury, disc herniation, and a torn labrum," according to a statement by his lawyers published by Sports Illustrated. The driver who caused the crash was eventually hit with a DUI charge.  

"Chandler was in peak physical condition at the time of the wreck," said his legal team. "He is now working with a team of doctors to regain his health, and at this time, his ability to return to play is unclear." Ultimately, Parsons tragically went from getting over his pesky knee problems to dealing with a whole new set of injuries in a flash.

Chandler Parsons unfortunately continued to sail on choppy waters after being in the abovementioned serious car accident: In February 2021, Advisor Hub reported that he had filed a $5 million arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. It was said that Parsons had been a client of Morgan Stanley since 2015, but from 2017 to 2019, there were allegedly payments made from his account without his permission. Fellow NBA player Courtney Lee, who was Parsons' roommate once, was also on the claim, and accused the New York-based company of doing the same thing to him. 

A man named Darryl Cohen was on the receiving end of the complaint, and according to a report from Erez Law, he was part of the company's Global Sports Entertainment Group and was Parsons' broker at the time. There aren't any specifics released about the claim, aside from Parsons' money allegedly being spent without authorization. However, Cohen reportedly advised him and Lee to establish a "liquidity access line" in both life insurance as well as real estate. Both men have since alleged that "they hold no interest" in either of these policies. 

From the way it seems, Parsons' problems just kept surrounding him, similarly to an opposing team's defense.

Chandler Parsons was pretty tight-lipped about his recovery process after the January 2020 crash, but in November 2021, a TMZ reporter got him to speak briefly about it as he walked to his vehicle. Toward the end of the conversation, the bearded athlete talked about how he and his partner, Haylee Harrison, had welcomed a newborn daughter and expressed joy about it. But outside of that, Parsons had what could be called a somber tone throughout the chat, since it centered on whether or not he'd play in the NBA again.

"We'll see. Working out, staying in shape, but trying to still recover from the car crash," Parsons explained. "[The recovery process has] been pretty intense. Still kind of managing everything." He then refused to answer a question about the specifics of his condition, but admitted to hurting his "neck and shoulder," while saying he also "had a serious brain injury." From there, the former NBA star talked about having a desire to still play professional basketball, noting that he had no intention of being a 31-year-old retiree and calling the car crash itself "bad timing."

From the way it looked in the clip, the famed Floridian was understandably still recovering emotionally from the accident, as well as physically.

Once Chandler Parsons announced his retirement in January 2022, his social media pages were flooded with plenty of responses — some of them kind, but others not so much. "My brother it was a pleasure!" read one of the nicer comments, which was written by fellow NBA player and University of Florida alum Vernon Macklin. Another person wrote they were going to "miss" seeing the now-retired athlete on the court. "Id say things really worked out nicely for you! Proud of u bud," a third follower shared, possibly bringing up that the basketball star is doing quite well financially. In fact, Celebrity Net Worth estimates his fortune at an impressive $60 million.

As for the meaner comments, some had to do with people thinking the 30-something-year-old had already retired since he hadn't played in quite some time. Bleacher Report shows that Parsons' last game in the NBA was back on December 27, 2019, which was more than two years before he announced his retirement. "He's retiring like somebody care," one person tweeted alongside crying-laughing and peace sign emojis. "What? He has been retired since he signed his last 2 contracts," a second individual wrote on Twitter. 

Some might argue that snarky responses in this case aren't all that appropriate, considering the former NBA star's recovery from serious injuries, but given the circumstances and timeline of the announcement, it seems reasonable for fans to have thought Chandler Parsons had already entered retirement.