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Smush Parker

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Smush Parker
Parker with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2007
Personal information
Born (1981-06-01) June 1, 1981 (age 43)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolNewtown (Queens, New York)
College
NBA draft2002: undrafted
Playing career2002–2018
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Number17, 7, 1, 21
Career history
2002–2003Cleveland Cavaliers
2003–2004Aris
2004Idaho Stampede
2004–2005Detroit Pistons
2005Florida Flame
2005Phoenix Suns
2005Florida Flame
2005–2007Los Angeles Lakers
2007–2008Miami Heat
2008Los Angeles Clippers
2008Rio Grande Valley Vipers
2009–2010Guangdong Southern Tigers
2010–2011Spartak Saint Petersburg
2011Iraklis
2012Petrochimi Bandar Imam
2012Guaros de Lara
2012Indios SFM
2012–2013Cibona
2013Peristeri
2014Guaros de Lara
2015Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons
2015Étoile Sportive de Radès
2016Maghreb de Fes
2017–2018Albany Patroons
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

William Henry "Smush" Parker III (born June 1, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the NBA G-League and several leagues overseas. Parker played shooting guard in college but moved to point guard in the NBA.

Early years

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Parker was born in Brooklyn to parents William "Bill" Henry Parker II and Robin Royal Parker.[1] He attended Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, where he was a star guard on their varsity basketball team.[2] 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.[3] Following his sophomore season at Fordham University, he entered the NBA in 2002 but went undrafted.[4] During his sophomore season, he was Second Team All A-10 and Second Team NABC All-Region.[5]

Professional career

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Early career

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While Parker was not drafted out of college, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed him for the 2002–03 season.[6]

In 2003, Parker signed with Aris Thessaloniki of the Greek League (FIBA Europe) and helped the team 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.

Los Angeles Lakers (2005-2007)

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He then signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers during the summer of 2005.

Not well-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[7] and went on to score at least 20 points in four of his first five games.[8][9] 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, including All-star Kobe Bryant. He admitted to intentionally ignoring Bryant and not passing him the ball, due to Bryant ignoring him, and while trying to talk to Bryant, Bryant claimed he didn't have enough accolades to talk to him. Bryant singled out Parker as a bad teammate, saying in 2012 that Parker "shouldn't have been in the NBA, but [the Lakers] were too cheap to pay for a point guard."[10] Parker would later detail how Bryant was a bad teammate, and after Bryant's tragic death in 2020, confirmed that the two men had never reconciled their differences.

Later NBA and overseas career

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On July 26, 2007, Parker signed with the Miami Heat.[11] For the Heat, Parker wore jersey number 21.[12] His production dropped off dramatically while with the Heat, with averages of 4.8 points, 1.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds, compared to his 11.1 in 164 games with the Los Angeles Lakers.[4] After a physical altercation that Parker had with a parking attendant in November 2007, the Miami Heat put him on paid leave to investigate the matter.[13] On March 10, 2008, the Miami Heat officially waived Parker.[14] The Los Angeles Clippers then signed him for the rest of the season on March 12, 2008.[4]

On July 10, 2008, the Los Angeles Clippers officially renounced their rights to Parker.[15] In the 2008 offseason, Parker was signed by the Denver Nuggets but was released on October 23, 2008, as the Nuggets trimmed their roster to the league-allowed 15. He then played with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League.

Parker never played in the NBA after the 2007 - 2008 season with the Clippers and thus his final NBA game ever was played on April 16, 2008 in a 75 - 93 loss to the Houston Rockets. In his final game, Parker recorded 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

On January 9, 2009, Parker officially signed with Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.

In September 2010, he signed a one-year contract with the Russian club Spartak Saint Petersburg.[16]

In January 2011, he returned to Greece and signed a contract with Iraklis Thessaloniki.[17]

In January 2012, Parker signed with Petrochimi Bandar Imam of the Iranian Basketball Super League.[18] He later played in Venezuela,[19] then signed with the Indios de San Francisco de Macorís of the Dominican Republic.[20] In December 2012, Parker signed with Cibona Zagreb of the Adriatic Basketball Association.[21] After only 5 games in Adriatic League, Parker was released.[22]

In March 2013, he returned to Greece and signed a contract with Peristeri of the Greek League.

In January 2014, he signed with his former team Guaros de Lara.[23] He left the team that March.[24] In June, Parker played in The Basketball Tournament.[25] His team reached the semi-finals,[26] and Parker's averages for the tournament were 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game.[27]

In February 2015, Parker signed with Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons of the Mongolian National Basketball Association (MNBA). He averaged 24 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 4.1 steals per game.

On November 30, 2017, Parker signed with the Albany Patroons of the North American Premier Basketball.[28]

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Cleveland 66 18 16.7 .402 .322 .831 1.8 2.5 .7 .2 6.2
2004–05 Detroit 11 1 10.0 .393 .222 .692 .8 1.0 .3 .0 3.0
2004–05 Phoenix 5 0 6.8 .467 .250 .000 .6 .8 .4 .0 3.0
2005–06 L.A. Lakers 82* 82* 33.8 .447 .366 .694 3.3 3.7 1.7 .2 11.5
2006–07 L.A. Lakers 82* 80 30.0 .436 .365 .646 2.5 2.8 1.5 .1 11.1
2007–08 Miami 9 0 20.3 .315 .250 .750 2.1 1.7 .6 .3 4.8
2007–08 L.A. Clippers 19 2 21.5 .362 .222 .667 1.7 3.6 1.0 .2 6.4
Career 274 183 25.8 .426 .345 .708 2.4 2.9 1.2 .2 9.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006 L.A. Lakers 7 7 36.9 .333 .154 1.000 3.0 1.6 2.1 .1 8.9
2007 L.A. Lakers 5 0 11.8 .154 .167 1.000 1.4 .6 .6 .2 1.8
Career 12 7 26.4 .306 .156 1.000 2.3 1.2 1.5 .2 5.9

Personal life

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Parker earned his nickname "Smush" at birth from his mother. "Smush" was a term of endearment for his father, so he became Baby Smush at birth.[29] Parker has one daughter from a previous relationship.[1] Parker is currently married.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b Caputo, Matt (April 24, 2018). "Smush Parker Still Stung by Feud with Kobe but Has Found Peace with His Past". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  2. ^ Hunt, Christopher (June 28, 2002). "NBA Snub Stinger for Smush". Daily News (New York, New York). p. 96.
  3. ^ "Smush Parker bio". NBA. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "Days after being cut by Heat, Parker signs with Clippers". ESPN. March 12, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  5. ^ "Flores Named To NABC District 2 Second Team". GoJaspers.com. February 11, 2002. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  6. ^ "Cavaliers Sign Matt Barnes and Smush Parker to Contracts". NBA.com. September 25, 2002. pp. D1.
  7. ^ "Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets Box Score November 2, 2005". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  8. ^ "Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, November 3, 2005". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  9. ^ "Atlanta Hawks at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, November 8, 2005". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  10. ^ Medina, Mark (October 11, 2012). "Kobe Bryant riffs on Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Jodie Meeks". LA Times.
  11. ^ Jackson, Barry (July 27, 2008). "Heat agrees to terms with guard Parker". Miami Herald. pp. D1.
  12. ^ "of the Miami Heat at". Miamihoopsgear.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  13. ^ "Smush Parker still not with Heat after altercation with parking attendant earlier this week". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  14. ^ "Heat waives Smush Parker". USA Today. March 10, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  15. ^ "Clippers renounce rights to Livingston". USA Today. July 10, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  16. ^ "Spartak pegs Parker at point guard". Eurocupbasketball.com. September 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  17. ^ "Iraklis lands Smush Parker". Sportando.net. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  18. ^ "Iranian team Petro signs Smush Parker and Joseph Forte | Asia". Sportando. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  19. ^ Smush Parker. Latin-Basket
  20. ^ "Indios Contratan Ex Nba Smush Parker". Lnb.com.do. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  21. ^ "Cibona adds Smush Parker". Eurobasket.com. December 10, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  22. ^ "Smush Parker released by Cibona". court-side.com. January 16, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  23. ^ "Smush Parker signs with Guaros de Lara". Sportando.com. January 8, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  24. ^ "Guaros de Lara replace Smush Parker with Devin Green". Sportando.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  25. ^ "Big Apple Basketball | the Basketball Tournament". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  26. ^ http://www.thetournament.com/bracket, Archived July 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "Smush Parker - the Basketball Tournament - player".
  28. ^ Albany Patroons sign first three players
  29. ^ Smush Parker on Podcast - Pablo Torre Finds Out 12/19/2023
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