Random Athlete Of The Day- Cherokee Parks

California’s own Cherokee Parks is well deserving of being our Random Athlete of the Day. He played at Duke University under Coach K, and led his Blue Devils to the National Championship his freshman year. Well he didn’t really lead them, but he was on the team. But that doesn’t mean Cherokee wasn’t a beast in the ACC. His college success actually made him a lottery pick. The lucky Dallas Mavericks landed Cherokee with the 12th overall pick in the 1995 Draft.

His rookie year he averaged just over 3 ppg. He then became a “Timberwolf”…literally…and went on to play 2 seasons with them. In his 2nd season with Minnesota he put up career high stats with 7 ppg and 5.5 rpg. After his career season he took his talents to Vancouver and played 2 seasons with them. He then bounced around to the Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and Golden State Warriors. And as he bounced around his sweet tats continued to add up. He began to look like a pretentious modern piece of art.

Cherokee Parks is one of the best non-name changed names. His look and swag made him a fan favorite to make fun of. I think the Clippers were at their worst when I saw fans wearing Cherokee Parks jerseys. Of course looking back at it I beat myself up for not buying a Parks jersey but thats beside the point. Cherokee ended up averaging 4.4 ppg and 3.6 rpg by the end of his celebrated career.

-Schotz