Kobe Bryant reverted to one of his favorite past times the other day, smacking around Smush Parker like his own personal piñata. He said Smush shouldn’t have been in the NBA but the Lakers were cheap and “let him walk on.” Which is how it felt.
But Smush — playing in China the past couple years — is convinced what did him in with the Lakers was not his below average play (PERs of 13.4 and 11.6 in two years) but rather that he wouldn’t kiss Kobe’s… ring. We’ll say ring.
Parker went on Hard 2 Guard Internet radio and said Kobe was a terrible teammate and that was the real problem. Larry Brown Sports listened to the interview and gives us highlights.
“You can’t knock the man’s legacy, you can’t knock what he’s done in basketball. His work ethic is tremendous. There’s not an ounce of hate in my blood whatsoever. The guy can play basketball — you’ve seen that throughout his career.
“What I don’t like about him is the man that he is. His personality. How he treats people. I don’t like that side of Kobe Bryant….
“The reason I wasn’t a Laker after my second year is because I didn’t bow down to [Kobe]. I didn’t kiss his a–. I wasn’t kissing his feet. Quite frankly, towards the end of the second season, I stopped passing him the ball. I stopped giving him the ball. I started looking him off.”
Smush tells stories, like the team going out for a bonding dinner before a playoff series against Phoenix and Kobe sitting at his own table with his security guards. Which does sound very Kobe. He’s gruff.
Two points here. First, Kobe was aloof and was not a great team leader at that time, something he has admitted he has worked to change. He has said he tried to hang out more with guys on the road. But you know what Smush — so what? It’s the NBA, you don’t have to like the guy, but when he’s clear and away the best player on the team you still have to pass him the ball. Be professional. Kobe only really talks with guys he respects. He’s more likely to have dinner or even a conversation with Steve Nash than Smush Parker. (Of course, Steve Nash is an old-school pro who couldn’t really care less if Kobe doesn’t talk to him.)
Second, Parker wants to know why if he doesn’t belong in the NBA why he was the third leading scorer on those Lakers teams, why he put up stats? Frankly, because those teams sucked and he had the ball so he got to shoot 10 times a game. Look who finished behind Parker in scoring on those teams — Chris Mihm, Brian Cook, Kwame Brown, Laron Profit and so on. Smush got his moment by default. Parker wasn’t efficient and didn’t make good decisions, but he was still the best option Phil Jackson had on that team.
I say to this day that Phil Jackson taking a team that started Smush Parker and Kwame Brown and getting them to the playoffs may have been his most impressive coaching job.
