Smush Parker
Smush Parker in February 2007 playing for the LA Lakers
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 1, 1981 Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Newtown (Queens, New York) |
| College |
College of Southern Idaho (1999–2000) Fordham (2001–2002) |
| NBA draft | 2002 / Undrafted |
| Playing career | 2002–present |
| Position | Point guard / Shooting guard |
| Career history | |
| 2002–2003 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2003–2004 | Aris |
| 2004–2005 | Detroit Pistons |
| 2005 | Florida Flame |
| 2005 | Phoenix Suns |
| 2005 | Florida Flame |
| 2005–2007 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2007–2008 | Miami Heat |
| 2008 | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 2008 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| 2009–2010 | Guangdong Southern Tigers |
| 2010–2011 | Spartak Saint Petersburg |
| 2011 | Iraklis |
| 2012 | Petrochimi Bandar Imam |
| 2012 | Guaros de Lara |
| 2012 | Indios SFM |
| 2012–2013 | Cibona |
| 2013 | Peristeri |
| 2014 | Guaros de Lara |
| 2015 | Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons |
| 2015 | Étoile Sportive de Radès |
| 2016 | Maghreb de Fes |
William Henry "Smush" Parker (born June 1, 1981) is an American professional basketball player. He played in the NBA, the NBA D-League, and several leagues overseas. Parker played shooting guard in college but moved to point guard in the NBA.
Parker was born in Brooklyn and attended Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, where he was a star guard on their varsity basketball team. He then enrolled in the College of Southern Idaho as a freshman in the 1999-2000 season and transferred to play college basketball at Fordham University. Following his sophomore season at Fordham University, he entered the NBA in 2002 but went undrafted. During his sophomore season, he was Second Team All A-10 and Second Team NABC All-Region.
While he was not drafted out of college, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed him for the 2002-03 season.
In 2003, he signed with Aris Thessaloniki of the Greek League (FIBA Europe), and helped them win the 2004 Greek Basketball Cup in the final against Olympiacos. He returned to the NBA in 2004, and played for the Detroit Pistons and the Phoenix Suns. He then signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers during the summer of 2005.
Little known entering the 2005 season, Parker gained recognition as the starting point guard for the Lakers under coach Phil Jackson. While many experts thought that either newly signed veteran Aaron McKie or Sasha Vujačić would start at point guard, Parker became the surprise starter in the Lakers' season opener against the Denver Nuggets and went on to score at least 20 points in four of his first five Laker games. This impressed Jackson, and Parker found himself in the starting line-up for the Lakers. From 2005 until 2007, Parker started 162 straight games averaging 11.5 points. During the last two games of the regular season and the playoffs (2006–2007), Parker lost his starting spot to rookie Jordan Farmar. While with the Lakers, Parker clashed with coaches and players, and has even admitted to looking off Kobe Bryant and not passing him the ball nearing the end of his second season. Kobe Bryant singled out Parker as a bad teammate, saying in 2012 that Parker "shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard."
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