Parker’s Perseverance: The Impact of the Game of Basketball in the Life of Kobe Parker

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State men's basketball sophomore Kobe Parker has endured many significant hurdles in his young-adult life, including surviving a near fatal car accident while also recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in high school.

"He's nothing short of a miracle given where he's at now," said Rich Sutter, Parker's head coach at Westfield State.

The physical and mental barriers for Chicopee native Parker have challenged him in a way that few other 21-year-olds have faced. Despite the various hardships that Parker has encountered over the course of his life, he has used the game of basketball to persevere through a multitude of challenges in his career, and is now thriving back on the court at Westfield State.

"I worked harder and harder every day and just tried to be better than what I was yesterday – because if I don't have basketball, I don't have anything," said Parker about his drive to get back in the game at Westfield.

Parker's most devastating blow to his playing career came the spring of 2020 before what would have been his first year at Westfield State.

THE ACCIDENT

He was heading out to visit a friend, and that would be all that Parker consciously remembered when waking up in the hospital days later. By reading the accident report, he found out about the incredible details of a four-vehicle car crash that he was involved in that night.

"I was getting on to the highway, said Parker. "I began to hydroplane to the left side where I ended up hitting a car and spinning into the guardrail. After hitting the guardrail, I hit somebody else in front of me which caused my car to drift back into the middle of the highway where I got hit again, then ended up in the breakdown lane. I ended up waking up in the hospital and I got the news that I got into a bad car accident."

Thankfully, he was able to survive the potentially-fatal car accident, but his road to recovery was a steep climb for the Chicopee native when he learned the severity of his injuries.

"When I woke up in the hospital I couldn't move," said Parker. "I had all types of IVs running through my body, and I had a breathing mask on. I broke my left arm and I shattered my left elbow in three or four places. Both my legs were stuck straight and they told me that I broke both of my femurs and shattered my right kneecap in five places."

"I was thinking to myself… I might not be able to walk again. It was hard especially since I went through this process [in recovering from a knee injury] once before only this was much worse," said Parker.

THE RECOVERY

During the early stages of Parker's recovery, he was fully dependent on others for care.

"They needed to wash me and feed me because I couldn't do anything by myself," added Parker, who had to put basketball and life in general on the back burner.

Parker remained in the hospital for about a week, sharing that he did not remember the first three days that he was there. He was then transported from the hospital to Inpatient Rehabilitation where he would spend three additional weeks rehabbing the slew of injuries suffered from the accident.

Parker said his time at Inpatient strained his mental well-being, as his long road to recovery combined with the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused disruptions in the facility's operating standards.

"I couldn't go home, and I could have one visitor per day and once they left that was it, they couldn't come back that day," said Parker. "[Most of the time] I was in there by myself, and it was a rough time for me. I was stuck in bed almost all day, and when I got up it was to eat. But sometimes I wouldn't eat for days because I was on heavy medications. I would never wish that upon anyone because that really was the lowest part of my life."

In his thoughts, Parker began to recall his past hardships which brought forth his ultimate motivation for improving his quality of life: The game of basketball. From that point forward, he started to slowly regain his physical strength, eventually being able to walk on his own again. Parker's resiliency shined through as he was eventually discharged from Inpatient and was set to return home. At this point, Parker was now able to resume light basketball activities.

"I knew I had to take it slow, but basketball means everything to me. It gives me confidence in whatever I do on or off the court and it made me who I am," said Parker. "Once you start thinking negative and getting in your head that's where all those types of emotions come out. I take all that emotion and anger out on the basketball court and if I can't go to the court then I'm doing pushups or something to get my mind off of whatever I'm thinking."

RETURN TO BASKETBALL

Parker's gradual but impactful return to the court was noticeable to the coaching staff, particularly Owls' assistant coach Wesley Jackson who heavily recruited Parker when he was at Chicopee High School.

"I've known Kobe a long time before AAU, it was probably in eighth grade," said Jackson.  "I've seen him all throughout high school. The second he could walk, he started getting back in the gym, doing whatever he could to play again. The second he could run he was running, the second he could shoot he was shooting. It was unbelievable."

"One thing that always amazed me about him is his personality," said coach Sutter, who saw a strong mentality in Parker throughout his time recovering with the Owls. "He's just so ebullient and never allows any of that to get him down,"

The long road to recovery kept Parker off the court for his freshman year with the Owls – though he was a constant and vocal presence from the Owls bench as Westfield State won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and made an appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

"He almost died, said Sutter of the auto accident. "And since that time he has been rehabilitating medically and psychically, which is why he missed last season."

"I didn't like sitting out, but honestly it actually helped me to watch how the game flows," said Parker.  "It gave me an outside perspective of the game. The pace of the game is not like high school. The ball is always moving and players are always moving without the ball."

Parker's long-awaited return to live game action came earlier this season, when he was finally able to again fully experience the game of basketball.

In just his second game back on the court for Westfield State, Parker scored 12 points against Kean (N.J.) University on an efficient five of eight shooting. Fast forward two and a half months to this past Monday, and Parker has played in 11 of the Owls 17 games, and just earned his second collegiate start against Amherst College.   Overall, he's averaging 3.3 points per game while redeveloping his game and finding his role for the Owls.

"He has tremendous heart and if you've watched him come back from where he was to now, it's just a source of pride in our program and something that we look to as a model for how to behave when things go really wrong," noted Sutter.

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR

Along with the game of basketball, Parker credits his social circle of family and friends for assisting him on his long journey back to the basketball court.

"Don't take anything for granted… Always be around people that have a good head on their shoulders. My sister Brittany is probably one of my biggest mentors. I take a lot from her and look up to her." 

"I also look up to some of the older dudes [on the team] like Kumar [Brown] and 'J-Ren' [Owls' assistant coach Justin Rennis]."

He also mentioned his father, Michael Parker, as one of his most profound mentors, particularly in his sporting career. His father has been somebody that Parker also draws motivation from, explaining that "[He] always told me to 'never have regrets and [to] just keep fighting.'"

Continuing to fight is a well-documented characteristic in Parker's young-adult life. Prior to the severe car accident he was involved in, Parker suffered a torn ACL in his sophomore year at Chicopee high school.

In a 2020 MassLive article, Parker shared a long list of challenges that he was forced to overcome both on the court and off. Along with a torn ACL, Parker partially tore his meniscus and also sprained his MCL leading to his first major surgery. After the injury, Parker's appendix burst - causing another surgery in his junior year. Aside from the physical injuries, Parker also suffered an emotional loss after witnessing the passing of his friend Dhimani Rivera-Therrien, along with Dhimani's mother Ruthie, from whom Parker frequently sought advice.

The injuries, obstacles and tragic losses would not stop Parker and his progression within the confines of the basketball court. He would eventually record his 1,000^th-career high school point while wearing Dhimani's jersey number.

BACK ON TRACK

Throughout all the hardships endured by Parker, he managed to wind up in a spot that he had been closely monitoring while playing in high school.

"I knew people that came [to Westfield] beforehand, and I knew this was a winning program," relayed Parker on why he chose to commit to Westfield.

"We always recruit Western Mass very strongly and Kobe had a previous relationship with my two assistant coaches through AAU and so it was just a natural fit," stated Sutter. 

The Owls are currently in the heart of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule, and after a difficult non-conference schedule where the Owls played three top-ten teams in Division III, Parker identified areas of growth that the team has shown over the last few weeks.  Multiple Owls' players have battled a variety of injuries that have constantly juggled the lineup as the team looks to regain the form that led them to a league title a year ago.

"We're staying strong and finally coming together," said Parker. "What we've learned through all these losses is that we always stay together and work with each other."

In terms of specific game details, Parker added the team is "Keeping the ball hot and [the team is] finally hungry," while also noting that, "[they're] starting to pick up the defense too and when we pick our defense up it translates into offense."

Westfield State (3-14, 2-3 MASCAC) currently sits in the middle of the conference standings and will host a pair of MASCAC opponents beginning with Fitchburg State tonight at 5:30 P.M. before entertaining MCLA on Saturday at noon. 

"We've got that chip on our shoulder and we're tired of losing."