Friday, October 12th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  226 responses

Smush Parker Says Kobe Bryant Didn’t Allow Him to Speak


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

After Kobe Bryant ripped him to shreds, the media somehow managed to locate Smush Parker for his thoughts on the matter. Parker fired back, and then some.

Smush — who says he’s been playing overseas for the last few years — told plenty of stories about his days as Kobe’s teammate. Let’s just say it wasn’t the greatest experience.

Parker claims that Bryant didn’t allow him to address him off the court, that Bryant wouldn’t build relationships with other Lakers, and that Smush stopped passing his famous teammate the ball at one point.

From Hard 2 Guard Radio (via Larry Brown Sports):

“I’m lost for words. It makes me blush. For my name to still come out of that man’s mouth? It makes me blush,” Parker said. “The two years in LA were a blessing to me,” he said. “People who ask me how it was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. People ask me how it was playing with Kobe Bryant. I said in 2008 that it was an overrated experience.” Though Parker termed playing with Kobe “overrated,” he respects the five-time champion’s game. He just doesn’t like his personality. “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.”

“I had a workout with the Lakers, beat all the guards out for the starting position, earned a spot on the team. Midway through the first season, I tried to at least have a conversation with Kobe Bryant — he is my teammate, he is a co-worker of mine, I see his face every day I go in to work — and I tried to talk with him about football. He tells me I can’t talk to him. He tells me I need more accolades under my belt before I come talk to him. He was dead serious.” Smush says the talking they did was strictly on the court. “We’re teammates, we talk basketball on the court. [Our talks were] about getting him the ball pretty much.”

This back-and-forth through the press amounts to little more than petty nonsense, and is beneath both guys. But it sure is funny.

Long live the Kobe/Smush beef.

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  • spit hot fiyah

    @by any means necessary, take over this thread

  • Slick Ric

    Too funny…we’ve always known kobe is arrogant so this doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. That’s a total jerk move though. Lol

  • BOUNCE LEGEND

    THAT SOUNDS LIKE KOBE ALRIGHT. SMUSH AINT THE FIRST ONE TO DISS KOBE’S PERSONALITY. MAYBE THATS WHY HE GOT BOOED AT HOME IN PHILLY DURING THE ALL STAR GAME

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    this makes Mario Chalmers look spoiled

  • K_HOLIDAY

    Would you have a conversation with a dude who answers to the name “Smush”? Didnt think so!

  • Vanessa Lane

    Kobe is an arrogant asshole.

  • Caboose

    Say what you will about Bron, Dwight, Paul, Bosh, or Melo, but they would never do that.

  • nick

    What a prick, he was probably pissed cause he got a accused of rape….I wouldn’t wanna talk to anyone either

  • BRAVO

    KOBE WILL BE KOBE

  • Max

    LOL

  • MackAtttack

    KOBE, KOBE, KOBE.

  • http://twitter.com/chrisyeh Chris Yeh

    Kobe definitely threw Smush under the bus, to be fair, Smush Parker did suck donkey balls.

  • LoganMarada

    I don’t have a problem with Kobe slamming Smush Parker’s less than average game, but that is a bit sad when he’s “too good” to even talk to his teammates. How about team chemistry?

  • LoganMarada

    I don’t have a problem with Kobe slamming Smush Parker’s less than average game, but that is a bit sad when he’s “too good” to even talk to his teammates. How about team chemistry?

  • Richard W.

    Who Really Care What SMUSH PARKER Has To Say!!! Kobe Is An Asshole When It Comes To WINING And Your SMUSH PARKER!!! Let’s Go And Interview Michael Jordan’s Teamates. How About This, I Live An Hour Outside Cleveland. Go And Look Up The Things Lebron James Was Doing While In Cleveland.

  • Richard W.

    Who Really Care What SMUSH PARKER Has To Say!!! Kobe Is An Asshole When It Comes To WINING And Your SMUSH PARKER!!! Let’s Go And Interview Michael Jordan’s Teamates. How About This, I Live An Hour Outside Cleveland. Go And Look Up The Things Lebron James Was Doing While In Cleveland.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Great player. Not the kind of person you’d want to hang out with. At all. Arrogance is one thing but the fact that he actually told another grown man not to talk to him until he had more accolades? That’s pretty wild. You could be the most fanatical Kobe Bryant fan and you couldn’t justify this at all. I’d rather take Jordan punching Kerr in the face, calling him later and apologizing than having Kobe tell a teammate not to talk to him until he “had more accolades”. My guess is that the only reason people deal with Kobe is because he’s a great player. I’ll be interested in seeing how close he stays with past teammates after he retires. Dwight would do better talking with Nash about being a leader. What’s crazy is that Kobe does work for the homeless in LA yet this is the kind of stuff he does too. Complex dude. Smush had some talent. Kobe could have taken him under his wing. Instead, this is what he did. I’ve heard since he’s been in the league that he was an odd dude. This is more proof. For anyone who will come along and say that being liked by teammates is overrated as long as you win, it is possible to do both. Plenty of legends have done it.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Great player. Not the kind of person you’d want to hang out with. At all. Arrogance is one thing but the fact that he actually told another grown man not to talk to him until he had more accolades? That’s pretty wild. You could be the most fanatical Kobe Bryant fan and you couldn’t justify this at all. I’d rather take Jordan punching Kerr in the face, calling him later and apologizing than having Kobe tell a teammate not to talk to him until he “had more accolades”. My guess is that the only reason people deal with Kobe is because he’s a great player. I’ll be interested in seeing how close he stays with past teammates after he retires. Dwight would do better talking with Nash about being a leader. What’s crazy is that Kobe does work for the homeless in LA yet this is the kind of stuff he does too. Complex dude. Smush had some talent. Kobe could have taken him under his wing. Instead, this is what he did. I’ve heard since he’s been in the league that he was an odd dude. This is more proof. For anyone who will come along and say that being liked by teammates is overrated as long as you win, it is possible to do both. Plenty of legends have done it.

  • Caribbeancop

    Now Shaq will continue to talk

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Imagine being a rookie getting selected by the Lakers. You probably had Kobe posters on your wall. You’re excited to play with him. You go up to him your first practice and this is what he says. This may be what happens when you completely copy another man’s behavior along with how he plays (Jordan). Just a strange individual. We also have to remember that he grew up mostly in Italy then came back to Philly. Italy and Philadelphia is a weird mix. This must be the kind of dude you end up with. Most of these guys in the league grew up in the inner city. Kobe doesn’t have that background. But regardless of what background he has, at some point, he should have learned how to interact with guys without coming off as a punk.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Interested in seeing how people will try to defend him on this one. “Kobe has 5 rings.” As if that’s the answer to everything. I almost forgot how he threw Gasol under the bus after OKC eliminated them last postseason. Who has issues with Pau Gasol who seems like one of the nicest people you could meet? Like Smush said, you can’t deny what he’s done on the floor but I don’t ever see him sitting down with other legends and talking about the good old days. Just seems like he’s in his own little world.

  • bike

    It’s not that unusual for the most elite athletes to come across as arrogant dicks. To be the best they have to be insanely competitive and they expect their teammates to do the same. Lance Armstrong and Jordan are two other examples of guys who could be arrogant jerks to teammates.

  • T-Money

    kobe is one of the greatest players of all time. kobe is a f-ck boy. these statements are mutually exclusive and not correlated.

  • Caboose

    Just a quick poll to see the quality of the SLAM readership: up vote this if you think what Kobe did was right. Down vote if it was wrong.

  • Sean B

    Hands down… this is why I’m sure all players would choose to PLAY WITH LeBron over Kobe. Of course both are great players, but I think LeBron is the ultimate teammate. Kobe has shown repeatedly… he cares about self first, team second.

  • averysmith

    I hear what S to the M-USH is saying; however, it does come off as more like hazing than arrogance. To be fair, hazing IS a manifestation of arraogance but it has a purpose; however twisted. In a strange way Kobe may have been trying to motivate the rookie. That said, that’s no excuse for K to the O-BE’s treatment of Mr. Parker.

    You’d never hear of this on the Spurs:

    Tiago: “Mr. Duncan, do you like parfaits?”
    Duncan: “You can’t talk to me, son.”
    Tiago: “Huh? I’m just trying to be friends…”
    Duncan: “We can’t be friends. You gotta grab a rebound before we can be friends.”

  • KSupreme

    You must see all those guys everyday and know their personalities. Give me a break buddy. Kobe is my dude, but this was a dick move. I’m not trying to back him up. Even Shaq says the same thing. But don’t act like you know every players personality from what u see on tv.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    “Kobe makes his teammates better”

  • roscoe

    What no one wants to admit is that being kb24 entails having many ppl, even teamates, and coaches trying to exploit him. The real world has ppl that will gossip about everything & anything to make a dollar off someone famous. His life and basketball career is completely different than your less than successful high school & college glory days fellas. TMZ is a perfect example of the exploitation kb24 gets as well as other celebrities that ppl stalk to make a couple bux. Pjax sold a book detailing kb24/shaq drama. just recently, jalen rose, brought up hurting kb24 to revive his lame analyst career that is doomed. To say kb24 does not have the right to keep his distance from ppl he does not trust is short-sighted. Anyone that supports smush parker the guy who beat up a valet over a couple bucks and takes his word as truth is choosing to believe bullsh*t bc they don’t like kb24. There is always 2 sides to any story and everyone here is smart enough to know that.

  • justin05

    lol what a loser..never leaving the kobe comments alone

  • justin05

    I agree 100% man. Too many people bashing Kobe because the Lakers are one of the favorites going into the season. Can’t even talk about football though? That is pretty fcked up..Kobe’s shits smell and he gets dressed just like we all do every morning.

  • Kap

    I’m sure there’s more to the story. The kobe haters hear this and it makes their day.

  • justin05

    It’s not a matter of right and wrong. That’s the problem in America today. We don’t know a whole lot about Kobe and Parker as individuals off the court. Kobe has to make decsions every single day just like the rest of us and this was a bad one..I’ll give you the down vote but as a true Laker fan, (not a Kobe fan) I can’t talk that negatively about him. I can’t stand the ballerinas but I never talk crap on Lebron or Wade anymore…even before they won.

  • justin05

    He was booed in Philly because the 76ers organization chose AI instead of Kobe in the draft and now look… Kobe wanted to play in Phili, Chicago, or LA believe me.

  • Anthony Jamison

    I don’t discredit Smush, but Kobe was still a kid trying to find himself and keep his legacy alive as he nearly was watching it fade with this crappy team. So he probably did have an attitude problem and it is forever a bitter topic with him.
    If he did just get complacent, there wouldn’t be much of a dominant legacy to argue for Kobe.

  • Caboose

    Fair enough, I don’t agree with all your points but I recognize the argument. Only thing I have to nitpick: America has a whole hell of a lot more problems than over classifying issues.

  • Caboose

    Um, we’re not bashing Kobe because he’s on the Lakers, obviously.

  • Caboose

    Kobe was a kid trying to find himself a decade into his career?

  • zogs19994

    LOL POOR SMUSH

  • thegoodson

    worst teammate in the history of the game. Period.

  • Caboose

    Just saying, Smush did average 12/4/3 on 45% shooting with better than a 2:1 assist:to ratio. That’s not great, but it’s far from the worst.

  • Phil

    This isn’t new. Why do you think he was booed by his hometown. He’s a prick. Strange dude.

  • Caboose

    Imagine if Norris Cole said this about LeBron.

  • Caboose

    Do me a favor: point out the flaws in his argument, then we can have a discussion. Or present a counter argument, or simply question, because you haven’t added much to this thread.

  • robb

    Smush started this years ago. If Kobe wants to talk sh*t about him he fully deserves it. Such a scrub. If you are a nobody stay a nobody, but it’s stupid to call out an NBA legend, specially one as arrogant as Kobe. He’ll come after you and rip you every time.

  • Drig

    This is Smush’s opinion. The opinion of a guy who never saw eye to eye with Kobe and probably never will. Kinda like Shaq and Dwight. Now, most rooks on the Lakers like Ebanks, Goudelock and Morris have praised Kobe for approaching them and helping them out with pointers and stuff. Yet people brush that under the rug considering that to be an anomaly. Judging him based on hearsay ( which isn’t even unbiased ) is what is termed reaching. Ever wondered why Caron Butler always praises Kobe for helping him out when he was a Laker??? Or Shannon??? Kobe is probably willing to help guys out and talk to them as long as they’re gonna put in the work ethic that he deems is acceptable. Smush rarely had that. Walton had the work ethic. Which is why Kobe doesn’t criticize Walton either.

  • Drig

    Smush barely passed as an NBA player. Don’t give me the talent crap. He was basically cut from 29 other NBA teams and then some before getting a place to play. And I don’t understand why we’re harping based on one comment from a guy who shares mutual hate with Kobe. Had it been someone like Rick Fox saying it, I’d be fine with your assessment but this ain’t. I’m curious about the “more accolades” stuff too. Once I get both sides of the story, I’m gonna comment on that.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Right, because this is all about bashing the Lakers because of the kind of team they have. No one’s said anything about any other star player on any other team that’s favored to be playing deep into the postseason so if you had any good sense, you’d see that it has nothing to do with this year’s team. Number one, no one’s bashing him. Number two, you have yet to say anything about the issue at hand. This has to do with Kobe acting like a complete punk with a teammate who was probably looking forward to playing with him. Stick to the subject. If you can.

  • Drig

    So tell me why he didn’t get a single place on 29 other teams with those stats??? I remember Miami cutting him vividly. It’s not the worst, but it’s far from passable too. And his D and attitude were abysmal. He was banned from the Miami training place for being a dick or something.

  • Drig

    Um……….by last post-season, do you mean 2011 or 2012??? Because Pau deserved the criticism in 2011 for being an absolute no-show. Kobe has backtracked on blaming Pau for the flameout in 2012 on media day I think.

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