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Smush Parker Wasn’t Allowed To Talk To Teammate Kobe Bryant
Do you guys remember Smush Parker? He is most famous for his two years with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant. The two still own the record for most combined points by a starting backcourt-duo in NBA history with 94.
In the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, Parker played in all 82 games both seasons, starting every game except two. He averaged 11.3 points, 3.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game in Phil Jackson’s triangle offense without a true point guard.
But even though Kobe Bryant was Parker’s backcourt partner, he wasn’t allowed to speak to him:
“He told me one day at practice — 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 talk to me.”
Smush and Kobe never really got along while playing together. Something that apparently hasn’t changed after Parker retired from the NBA. In 2012, Bryant said that Parker was the worst teammate he’s ever had and that he shouldn’t have been in the NBA.
