Chandler Parsons went Nick Saban to help recruit Dwight Howard to Houston

Rockets fans, you can thank Chandler Parsons.

Well, it was certainly a lot more than that which helped Dwight Howard decide to land with the Rockets. Daryl Morey’s smart handling of assets and cap space played a big role, as did the acquisition of James Harden. Having Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming in on the pitch didn’t hurt.

But consider Parsons the ground forces that crossed the border just before the invasion and provided support for everything that was to come. A story at Forbes Magazine (yes Forbes, Howard’s move is big business) explains everything.

“Chandler was relentless,” explained a source close to the situation to FORBES. ”[Chandler] called and texted [Dwight] every day, even face-timed and would answer every question Dwight could potentially have. We would drive to his house in the hills and talk to him. Basically Chandler Parsons recruited him like Nick Saban and a 5-star defensive tackle; they hardly knew each other at beginning of process.”

Dwight Howard jumped straight from high school to the NBA, he didn’t really undergo the college recruiting process, where every top coach in the nation would have essentially kissed his behind to get Howard to come to their university. Players such as him (and LeBron James, and others) who didn’t have that experience seem to want to savor the process.

We all want to be wanted, to be needed, and told such. Chandler Parsons did just that — he made Howard feel wanted in way he never did that full season on Los Angeles. It worked.

It worked out for everyone Howard is a Rocket and Parsons is going to get a nice pay bump off his rookie deal as a key cog in a contending team.