The war of words between Kobe Bryant and Smush Parker continues. Kobe couldn’t stop laughing Friday when talking about Smush Parker’s 35 minute interview where he fired back at him.
“I was devastated,” Bryant said. “What’s he going to do? ‘Yeah, Kobe’s right?’ I gave him his little 30 minutes of fame again. I wish him the best of luck. Maybe he’ll get back to the NBA one day and can see what it’s like up close again.”
Parker, who was the Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard from 2005 through 2007, said Bryant was mean to his teammates.
“On road trips, he traveled with his security guards. His security guards were, I guess, his best friends. He didn’t talk to any of his teammates. On the team plane, he sat in the back of the plane by himself.”
Parker, 31, had a tumultuous two-year run with the Lakers. He averaged 11.3 points and 3.2 assists and was headed toward a possible contract extension when he publicly criticized Phil Jackson’s substitution patterns in April 2007.Jackson benched Parker in favor of rookie Jordan Farmar before the playoffs began. Parker was not resigned by the team after that and played nine games with Miami in 2007-08 before being waived. He then played 19 games with the Clippers.
In 2006-07, Parker was fourth on the team in scoring, assists and minutes, led in steals and was 10th in rebounding. In 2005-06, Parker was third in scoring, assists and minutes, was second in steals and eighth in rebounds.
Parker has since played in China, Venezuela, Greece and Russia, and he’ll head back to China in December.
Source: LA Times
