Parsons hoping to find long-term Perth home

Featured image: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

De'Sean Parsons always wanted to play for a Perth-based NBL1 West team even when starting 2026 in NBL1 Central and when it all lined up, he was excited to join the East Perth Eagles and is high on their potential the rest of the way.

Having spent the past two seasons in Kalgoorlie with the Goldfields Giants where he was named to the All-First NBL1 West Team on both occasions, Parsons was hoping to play for a Perth-based team in 2026 once he finished his time in Europe which was split between Bulgaria and Macedonia.

That didn’t quite eventuate and instead he joined the defending NBL1 Central champion West Adelaide Bearcats where he was playing well including putting up 23 points, 21 rebounds and six assists in his last appearance in a tight loss to the then undefeated Sturt Sabres.

However, the Bearcats had a big decision to make with the chance to recruit Tasmania JackJumpers NBL star Nick Marshall and they couldn’t have both, so Parsons became collateral damage.

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That's when the chance to play for a Perth team presented once more given he was already in the country and it just happened to work out ideally time-wise where Max Rice was about to depart the Eagles to take up a coaching role at Boise State University.

Parsons had already talked in the off-season to Eagles coach Carl Filpo about potentially coming on board and they reconnected, and quickly agreed to terms for the rest of the 2026 season.

The 31-year-old Californian is now three games into his time at East Perth and is fresh off having 21 points and 11 rebounds in his first win last Saturday night in overtime against the Perth Redbacks.

The front court that Parsons is now part of featuring NBL pair Lat Mayen and David Okwera, captain and former Grand Final MVP Lee Roberts, the soon-to-be returning Sharif Watson and impactful big man Ioannis Dimakopoulos almost defies belief at least on paper at NBL1 level too.

"The front court is amazing and that situation, let's be honest is just 100 per cent legit," Parsons said.

"We've got guys coming off the bench that can produce as starters and starters like David and Lat who play in the NBL at a high level.

"Then you've got Lee who is basketball royalty and just knows the game of basketball so well, and plays so hard.

"So that front court is amazing but overall team wise, I think once we gel and once we figure it out, and we do have to do it at a fast pace because we're in the second half of the season already, I think we're going to be a team to beat.

"That has to start with us and we have to understand that we have to gel, and get better as a team each day."

Quick adjustment to fit in at Eagles

Parsons played his sixth and last game with West Adelaide in NBL1 Central back on May 9 before the league had a week's break and that's when the decision was made to sign Marshall and that there would be no more room for Parsons.

He quickly signed at East Perth and even though things didn’t quite go to plan with him injuring a hand in the first 10 minutes of his first practice session, he was right to go for that weekend's double header away to the Perry Lakes Hawks and at home to the Joondalup Wolves.

Parsons then had a big say in his first win against the Redbacks and is happy with how quickly he's fitting in.

"I think I'm fitting in pretty good and anywhere you go that you get tossed in mid-season like how I did in Adelaide too coming from Europe, it's pretty tough," Parsons said.

"You gotta adjust at a fast pace and you gotta learn the guys and learn the system, and learn the defensive schemes and all that stuff, but it's been good so far. It's just a matter of being here for two weeks now and it's been good."

Reflecting on stint with Bearcats

Looking back on that short six-game stint in the end at West Adelaide, Parsons still enjoyed his time there and enjoyed seeing what the culture of a team fresh off winning a championship looked like even if 2026 hasn’t quite gone to plan.

He understands the decision that coach Dean Nyberg had to make and there's no hard feelings even if things did seem to end just as he was warming up and finding his groove.

"I was more surprised because my last game was when we lost to Sturt by less than five points who was undefeated at the time and I was coming off one of the best games of my career actually," Parsons said.

"And I felt like in that game we had a lot of momentum coming out of it, but we ended up having a break and unexpected certain things happened.

"At the end of the day, we realise it's a business and I was on the business sides of it and there's no love lost. I still have nothing but love for coach Dean and the organisation and players there.

"At the end of the day they made a longevity call and you've gotta respect that and I still have nothing but love for them."

Always wanted to play for a Perth team

Parsons will always look back fondly on his two seasons in Kalgoorlie playing with the Giants, but every time he would visit Perth he knew it was a city he could see himself wanting to settle long-term.

He was just hoping to find the right basketball situation and he did speak to several teams ahead of 2026, but it never quite happened and now the timing just worked out for him and for East Perth for it to come to fruition now.

"It worked out to the point where honestly I was talking to coach Carl before I even signed with West Adelaide too, but it just didn’t work out with that," Parsons said.

"I guess the dominoes fell this time where they was losing Max for a certain rise to go to Boise to coach, and that situation happened in Adelaide.

"He wanted somebody that already was in Australia and it just worked out that I was and that situation happened unexpectedly. It just worked on the same timetable and we got it done as soon as possible once it happened."

Finding a long-term home

Right now Parsons is happy to continue splitting his basketball year by playing in Europe and then returning to Australia to play NBL1, but as the years start to roll on, it's down under where he'd like to settle.

That's why he'd like to find a club particularly in Perth that he could make a long-term home and given he's now at the Eagles already, he sees no reason that can't be where it happened.

"Even when I was in Kalgoorlie I fell in love with Perth even though I would just visit and was six hours, but I did love Kal too," Parsons said.

"That will forever feel like a home for me and I love the whole community and organisation, and they know that.

"But I do see there could be a long-term situation here and we've sparked that conversation around that a little bit.

"I want to have a long-term situation so whether it's East Perth or not, I feel like some team is going to realise that and I can keep coming back after my Europe season. Then as I start to wind down, I'll make NBL1 my main seasons sooner or later."

Heading back to Kalgoorlie to play

One thing that Parsons is now looking forward to as well is a return to Kalgoorlie to play as a visiting player for the first time.

There are plenty of people in the town and at the Giants he's looking forward to seeing again even though he knows it won't be friendly once the ball is in play.

But the Eagles have a road trip to Kalgoorlie on June 27 and Parsons has already circled that one.

"I'm excited about it and Kal is home and I love the community, and have nothing but love for Kal," Parsons said.

"That season when I first went there, I needed Kal more than Kal needed me and the love I have for that place is just amazing.

"I'm excited to go back and it's going to be a hostile environment and I know that from that standpoint now that I'm on the opposite of the locker room.

"It's going to be sort of weird but I'm excited to see everybody to be honest and to get back there again."