Thursday, October 11th, 2012 at 10:15 am  |  147 responses

Kobe Bryant Says Smush Parker Was ‘the Worst’


Between the departure of Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 and the arrival of Pau Gasol in 2008, Kobe Bryant was saddled with some pretty awful teammates. It’s an issue Kobe no longer faces, especially this season. Bryant took a walk down memory lane last night (he sat out the preseason game against the Blazers due to a strained right shoulder), and his acid tongue ripped into former Lakers point guard Smush Parker. Per the OC Register: “I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team,’ Bryant said before Wednesday’s 93-75 exhibition loss to Portland. ‘I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown.’ Bryant was referring to 2005-06 when the Lakers’ roster included Brian Cook, Stanislav Medvedenko, Devean George and Parker, Mihm and Brown. Bryant continued, taking aim at his favorite whipping boy, Parker, calling him ‘the worst. He shouldn’t have been in the NBA but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. So we let him walk on.’”

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  • Fat Lever

    Well Kobe’s got the @$$hole part down pat. I hope Dwight is taking copious notes.

  • Perry the PlatyPteranodon

    Daamn, Kobe done smushed Smush…

  • biggieman

    Haha that’s prettty funny… Even though everyone in the world already knew that Smush was “the worst”, there is no need to even make these comments. Kind of a dick move on Kobe’s part.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Kobe hasn’t cared since that incident in Colorado was over in 2004 about being liked. I’m glad he stopped trying to be the All-American guy in the McDonald’s commercials. But comments like this are just unnecessary. My guess is he’s saying these things because he knows that chances are great he won’t run into Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown or Smush Parker anytime soon. As for the number of shots he had to shoot, he’s always been shot happy whether he was playing with Kwame or Smush or playing with Gasol and Bynum. There’s a guy playing right now named LeBron James who would have gotten guys like Mihm, Kwame and Smush going. That’s never been Kobe’s aim regardless of what he says about his days of being happy just passing to Shaq. Great player. Not that great of a teammate.

  • http://twitter.com/Illustrious_Cee Chris

    asshole or not, Kobe is correct. How many of those guys Kobe played with in the post-Shaq era, pre-Gasol era are still in the league (or relevant) other than L.O and Kwame Brown? I’ll wait …

  • K_HOLIDAY

    Smush averaged 11 points, 4 assists and almost 2 steals that year. I mean he wasnt great but he wasnt terrible either.

  • Karl

    Kobe just can’t keep his mouth shut…

  • Ethos

    Kobe is the polar opposite of Nash.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    That’s all good but he didn’t need to make these comments. I’m sure they could share some stories about how bad of a teammate Kobe is and how much he shot the ball without thinking about passing it to them. Haven’t heard a word from them.

  • http://twitter.com/MrM3Ls Ramel Page

    I talk to Smush from time to time during the summer…believe me the feeling is mutual.

  • bike

    True maybe, but classless. Be careful Dwight. Be very careful.

  • Atlanta Zone 6

    But Kobe was hands down the best player on that team so their excuses wouldn’t hold much weight

  • Kap

    Kobe did make those guys better. He had Mihn looking like a starting center and Smush Parker averaged double figures bc the attention Kobe drew. They were one game from moving to second round. Also Smush started the trash talk bout Kobe a few years bk.

  • Atlanta Zone 6

    Kobe could say water is wet and some of ya’ll would disagree because it came from him..

    ya’ll haven’t learned he don’t give a fuck about your opinions of him…I think that’s what really get ya’ll catching feelings too,that he don’t care.

  • Kap

    Smush started this years ago by criticizing Kobe. Get your facts straight.

  • Kap

    Smush came out a few years ago criticizing Kobe.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Mihm looking like a starting center? Look at that roster. Who else was going to start at center?

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Not excuses and it’s not about Kobe being the best player on the team. There’s something to be said for being a good teammate.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Kobe has a history of this. Remember the video in 07 of him saying that he wished Bynum had gotten traded for Jason Kidd?

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    It’s not “catching feelings”. It’s having the good sense to see that Kobe has a history of making these kinds of comments about teammates who he feels aren’t good enough. The Bynum comments in 07. He’s made comments about Kwame Brown before. Now this. It’s not even about the fans. It’s about other players in the league and legends before him. Legendary players who were much better than he is have had teammates worse than the teammates he had to play with. And they didn’t say a word about them. I highly doubt if you’ll hear LeBron talk about how bad some of his Cavs teams were when he retires.

  • Jer dawg

    Smush had a bad attitude problem. His body language sucked. He was impressive, though. Every now and then. But he being a minimum guy he could have exhibited more of a hungry player with better attitude. Kwame brown was terrible, but he tried and had good attitude. chris Mihm wasn’t horrible but gave effort and had good attitude.
    If Smush just kept his head on straight then I think he would still be in NBA. Shannon brown is great athlete but has right work ethic and attitude to still stick on a roster.

  • Kap

    So Jordan wasn’t similar in character? He’s old school. Last of a dying breed. You think Barkley wouldn’t say the same or Shaq either. These new guys are all about being loved and being friends with their peers.

  • Kap

    He ain’t Bron and Bron ain’t Kobe. Dang. Doesn’t make either less of a person. Barkley and Jordan have same mentality as Bean.

  • http://twitter.com/theverybestyou NWS

    Seven years later and Kobe still has a crush on Smush.

  • http://twitter.com/justinmaller Justin Maller

    Yeah, but I bet if I put you on the court for 40 mins you’d do the same. It’s not hard to get 4 assists with 2006 Kobe on your team.

  • Comment_System

    He was the AT&T of people, he was the opposite of batman.

  • http://twitter.com/justinmaller Justin Maller

    Man, I love Kobe. It’s so cool to see someone actually speak their mind rather than offer platitudes and formulaic nonsense. This is what he thinks. I bet a lot of dudes think similar stuff but instead bore you to tears with athlete-speak to be a “good character guy”. Fuck that. Kobe speaks openly, in a way few active players do. I’m grateful for it.

  • K_HOLIDAY

    It is hard to get 4 assists with Kobe on your team because Kobe on your team means you dont see the ball my friend! LOL!

  • justin05

    You are just a Kobe hater. He’s just another guy…great at basketball but he lacks in other departments ( being a good,faithful husband). Michael Jordan is the same way, the best ever but still a douchebag in real life. I’d rather hang out with my neighbor down the street, he has some good kush right now.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Kobe is on a vendetta right now. Trying to push Dwight to be more like him, throwing his old teammates under a bus that left the station years ago. I don’t know how well this is going to go over.

  • http://twitter.com/justinmaller Justin Maller

    This seems like the humblest brag of all time. Kudos to you sir!

  • http://twitter.com/justinmaller Justin Maller

    Pretty sure you can get assists off of inbounds though :)

  • http://twitter.com/Illustrious_Cee Chris

    What constitutes a “great teammate” is highly subjective, my friend. Sure, Kobe has a shoot-first mentality, but that’s his style of play and why he’s a SHOOTING guard. Moreover, this notion of him being a “selfish” player is misguided, need I remind you who was the main playmaker on the 3-peat team in the Triangle? (Hint: he wore#8). And when you play with cats like Mihm, Smush and Brian Cooke, no amount of “unselfish” player will win you anything, especially when you play in the ridiculously competitive 2000s Western Conference.

    Being a great teammate is so much more than passing the ball, cracking jokes with your teammates and having them over for dinner parties. I mean, all that stuff is great too, but getting them to mirror your work ethic, stay focused and seeing the big picture is part of it too. Kobe might not be great at all that “soft power” stuff, but very few superstars were either. Probably only Magic, and even he was ultra competitive as well. Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Bird were not the “nicest” guys. And don’t get me started on MJ. It’s just the way it works, rightly or wrongly.

  • Salty

    yeah in the age of twitter we need more people who will “speak their mind”…i.e. talk out of their ass.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Caron Butler

  • Joe Harden

    I agree with you about how unnecessary his comments about Smush are. Kobe has never REALLY cared about other people. It is an insufferably arrogant aspect of his personality that I can’t stand, personally. I am going to hate rooting for Nash, Gasol and Howard to win a title because of The Black Stumble-ah. I doubt he cares if he runs into Smush and Kwame…even though he is right about them sucking (in comparison to other players), he went a little HAM on them with these comments.

  • Joe Harden

    I agree with you about how unnecessary his comments about Smush are. Kobe has never REALLY cared about other people. It is an insufferably arrogant aspect of his personality that I can’t stand, personally. I am going to hate rooting for Nash, Gasol and Howard to win a title because of The Black Stumble-ah. I doubt he cares if he runs into Smush and Kwame…even though he is right about them sucking (in comparison to other players), he went a little HAM on them with these comments.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Barkley talks all the time how much he loved his teammates in Phoenix and in Philly. The only player Shaq has said negative things about is Kobe.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Another person who thinks that telling the truth means you’re a hater. Smarten up.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Neither Barkley nor Jordan has made any kind of comment like these or the comments Kobe made about Bynum 5 years ago.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Jordan said years ago that while he sees some of him in Kobe, there are things Kobe does that he would never do.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Name one player that Kobe has made better.

  • ALD

    i always wondered why ramon sessions didn’t resign

  • enarez

    Everyone on the 2004-2005 team. How many of them have played better since leaving the Lakers? Odom is one guy in particular.

    Nice job in these comments by the way. Kobe must really grind your gears, hahaha!

  • enarez

    Here’s someone dissecting his teammates improvement: http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2012/03/comparing-nash-effect-with-bryant.html

  • spit hot fiyah

    you don’t

  • spit hot fiyah

    smush first season with the lakers was not that bad, he disappeared in the playoffs, but his first regular season with them was alright, then it went kind of down hill

  • LobCity

    Everyone on the 04-05 team? What was their record again? How exactly did he make those players better?

  • enarez

    Read the article above. They eventually made it into the playoffs after being a dog shit team. That’s making your teammates better.

  • LobCity

    @Chris how many players on ANY 04 team are still in the league and relevant? Only top level talent stays relevant that long.

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