Ex-NBA Player William “Smush” Parker played six years in the NBA, including a two-year stint for the Lakers from 05 ‘- 07’; however, Smush is perhaps best known for the interview below, where he said playing for the Lakers was an “overrated experience” and bashed Kobe as a terrible teammate:
Kobe, in true Kobe fashion, did not even entertain a response to Smush’s comments until 2012, and when he did, Kobe didn’t hold back:
I tell Steve [Nash], you won MVP, but I was playing with Smush Parker….He’s playing with [Leandro] Barbosa. I’m playing with Smush and Kwame [Brown]. My goodness. … Smush Parker was the worst. He shouldn’t have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. We let him walk on.
Now, Parker is just sick and tired of the internet Trolls haunting his mentions for his past take on Kobe. At this point in his life, Smush is just looking for some sort of reconciliation from Kobe.
This might not ever happen, but in a perfect world, if Kobe would just say something like he might have said something [about me] out of anger and he didn’t really mean those things about me being the worst point guard in the NBA…I really can’t believe that the two seasons that I played with him, with the numbers that I put up and moments that we had, that he really felt like I was the worst point guard in the NBA.
If he could say something like that, it would really mean the world to me…(laughing at the notion of being issued an apology)…I get a lot of whiplash for being the guy who said something about Kobe Bryant.
This is probably just wishful thinking, at this point, from Smush.
During his time with Kobe, Smush averaged 11 points per game, in 33 minutes. More recently, Parker actually attended the Big 3 combine; however, he went undrafted for a second straight year.
Flip the page to see Smush Parker’s interview on Kobe telling him: “[Smush] didn’t have enough accolades to speak to him.”