Smush Parker has once again spoken about his former teammate Kobe Bryant. It is no secret that Kobe and Smush never went along. Something which both were quite vocal about during interviews. Parker, in an episode of VLAD TV, has now revisited the time he termed playing with Kobe as “overrated”. Though the ex-LA Lakers’ point guard owned the fault on his part, he also detailed his reasoning behind the stunning remark.

“I started this snowball effect of you know, this chain of Kobe saying negative things about me, and I took ownership for it, and I apologize for it,” Parker said while breaking down the stark contrast between his expectations from Kobe and the reality. “I said, playing with Kobe Bryant was overrated experience.” He said was based on his personal facts. “Things that actually happened to me, facts, not opinion.” 

Parker further highlighted the absence of mentorship and camaraderie from the Black Mamba. “The man didn’t talk to me,” he said, while acknowledging Kobe as one of the greatest players of all time. “And, of course, if I’m in his presence, I would like to learn from him. I would like to like be a pupil of some point, I would like for him to take me in under his wing and guide me a little bit. That never happened. So I said it was overrated experience.”

Smush further emphasized that he was never very fond of Kobe as a person. “What I don’t like about him as the man that he is his personality, how he treats people,” he said. However, despite the friction, he acknowledged Kobe’s unparalleled work ethic and competitive spirit, acknowledging the complexities of their dynamic.

Unpacking the Kobe Bryant and Smush Parker Saga

Kobe treated the Lakers as his family and ensured each time that the associated members contributed to their top potential. However, in doing so, the Black Mamba, at times, got on bad terms with some of his own. So much so that Kobe did not even hold back from saying, “He (Parker) shouldn’t have been in the NBA, but the Lakers were too cheap to sign a point guard.” 

It was the lack of evident acknowledgment on Kobe’s part that did not go well with Smush. However, Parker believed, “You can never tell if you watch the games, you would never tell that Kobe and I never had an interaction…”, Parker said, while emphasizing that they both recognized in each other their burning desire to win. So it can be said while friction and misunderstanding marked their off-court relationship, on the court, Kobe and Smush were teammates united by a common goal—to win.
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