Kobe Bryant is one of the most decorated superstars in modern basketball. The 6-foot-6 guard played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 seasons and clinched 5 championships, 3 MVPs, and 2 Finals MVPs, among several other accolades.
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During his tenure with the Purple & Gold, the Black Mamba shared the locker room with some of the game’s biggest names – Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, Gary Payton, Derek Fisher Dwight Howard, and Steve Nash.
One of Kobe’s teammates that even LAL fans rarely know about is Smush Parker.
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“Smush Parker shouldn’t have been in the NBA”: Kobe Bryant
Back at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, the Lakers acquired the services of Smush as their starting point guard.
Bryant, who wasn’t too enthusiastic about having Parker as a teammate, once told Mark Media of Los Angeles Times his honest opinions on the 6-foot-4 youngster. Being the candid personality he was, the Mamba stated that LAL’s inadequate funds were the only reason Smush was on the team.
“He shouldn’t have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. We let him walk on,” Bryant said.
Many years later, Parker spoke about the relationship he shared with Kobe.
“We didn’t have much of a relationship or friendship. When I was there, we didn’t have a friendship, it was strictly business. Strictly professional, all basketball talk.”
Further, the guard even narrated an anecdote when Bean asked Smush to gather more accolades before he tried speaking to his leader.
“I tried to talk to him outside of basketball about football, and he looked at me in practice and was dead serious and said, ‘You can’t talk to me. You need more accolades under your belt before you come to talk to me’.”
Smush’s stats as an NBA pro
Parker had a short stint as an NBA pro. Smush played for 6 franchises, however, he performed his best while representing the LA-based organization.
During the two seasons with LAL, the 6-foot-4 PG would play all 164 regular seasons and average a respectable 11.3 points, 3.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game.
After the conclusion of his 5 years in the league, Smush had averaged 9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game, before signing with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association in early 2009.
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