Smush Parker checked in to Episode 1 of Season 2 of Scoop B Selects Presented by The National Basketball Retired Players Association.
After going undrafted in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn, New York native ended up spending six years playing in the NBA and 11 years overseas.
Most notably, the Fordham University alum played two years with the Los Angeles Lakers under head coach Phil Jackson and alongside legends like Kobe Bryant from 2005-2007.
That era of Lakers basketball was an interesting one because it was a rebuild.
Just two seasons prior to Parker’s arrival, LA boasted a super team that included Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton, Karl Malone as well as Bryant that lost to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.
Following the ‘04 Finals, Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom which signaled Kobe Bryant becoming the face of the franchise.
Bryant was establishing himself as the leader in LA’s locker room after Shaq’s departure which included re-establishing himself in both the local LA and NBA community after a high profile legal case. “He was taking on that role,” recounts Parker on Scoop B Selects.
“First time as a captain I believe so it was a rebuilding year and it was his first attempt at trying to be a team leader.”
Bryant and Parker were part of a team with a roster that included Odom, Andrew Bynum, Devean George, Luke Walton that finished seventh with a 45-37 record during the 2005-06 NBA season.
While the Lakers would lose to the Phoenix Suns in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs, Parker says that the purple had begun to re-establish themselves. “For me it was fun,” says Parker.
“I enjoyed it. I enjoyed playing for Phil Jackson. I enjoyed playing in Hollywood and we made the best of it. We made it to the playoffs, you know? And we were trying to build for the years to come.”
Smush Parker’s Coming of Age With The Lakers Under head coach, Phil Jackson
Parker became a favorite of Phil Jackson’s during his Laker tenure. From 2005 until 2007, Parker started 162 straight games, averaging 11.5 points. Parker spoke reverently about his time under Phil Jackson. “I will say that Phil Jackson was arguably one of the BEST coaches to ever coach this game of basketball,” he said.
He’s definitely one of the most decorated. We can definitely say that. He has three as a player with the Knicks and nine as a coach, so that would be 12 championships. I’ve played for a lot of great coaches. I played for Larry Brown in Detroit, I played for Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix, John Lucas in Cleveland, I played for Pat Riley in Miami and I played for Mike Dunleavy in Los Angeles with the Clippers so I’ve been around and I know good coaches. I loved playing for Phil Jackson and I think a lot of players who played for him will attest to this — he’s a good coach to play for because he allows you to play basketball. He doesn’t overcoach. He understands that we’re professionals. If we’ve reached that level, we don’t need to be over-coached, you know what I’m sayin’? You overcoach high school kids because there’s a certain level of talent and discipline that they don’t have. You overcoach a little even in college and that’s where you’re teaching the game. At the NBA level you’re not really teaching these guys how to play basketball. They should already know how to play basketball. You should unlock certain things in their mind that bring out the best in these guys who are professionals and I think that Phil Jackson was a master at that.”
That’s high praise for the Zen Master.
While Parker has not played organized basketball since 2018, he’s still attached to the game. In fact, he’s aiming to become just the fourth former NBA player to referee in the league.
Keep Up With Today’s Los Angeles Lakers & D’Angelo Russell at Point Guard
He’s also still paying attention to the Lakers and he gave his take on what it would take for the Lakers to return to an era of dominance. “I just think that they need time to rebuild like any other team,” he tells Scoop B Selects.
“The thing about the big market teams is that they want to win championships right away. They want certain players in place and they want to win now instead of allowing their teams to grow organically and that’s what a lot of teams like the San Antonio Spurs do. They let those guys and let that nucleus grow and you see what happened with them, you know? So I think that’s what needs to happen.”
Parker also weighed in on Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell playing with today’s Laker team and his role with LeBron James. “I don’t know D’Angelo too well, but I do know LeBron James’ game and he’s ball dominant,” he said.
“D’Angelo is a playmaker that’s used to having the ball in his hands but you have to understand that’s not your role anymore. I’m talking about D’Angelo Russell now. You have to become a spot up shooter when you’re playing with a guy like LeBron James; almost like I had to play when I was playing with Kobe Bryant. But again, you have to know how to adapt to your teammates and that’s what good basketball players do, you know? You know what your role is on certain teams and then elevate your game to that level that it needs to be.”
LeBron James’ Impact From High School & Beyond
Parker also sings LeBron James’ praises. A member of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2002-03 NBA season, Parker did check out some of James’ games during his senior year of high school at Akron, Ohio St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. “He was a freak of nature,” said Parker.
“For a high school kid, I’ve never seen anyone that agile, [pause] that big, a freak of nature; head above the rim on all his dunks and he was just physically gifted and I have not seen anyone like that… No, I’m lying. I did see somebody just like that in high school and his name was Michael Beasley. Michael Beasley was just like LeBron James in high school. I do wanna shout out Mike Beasley but we’re talking about LeBron James right now…. When I first saw LeBron James I was just like, He’s different. There’s no way he’s not going to be great or turn out to be a great player.”
Jay-Z & Fat Joe’s Blackout Game At Rucker Park
Speaking of LeBron in high school: James and Smush Parker had something in common. They were both on the roster of pro players who were supposed to participate in the Blackout game between Jay-Z’s team and Fat Joe’s team at Rucker Park in a game that never happened.
Dubbed the Blackout game, Parker and James were on Jay-Z’s S.Carter roster along with Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford and Yao Ming. Fat Joe’s Terror Squad roster included Stephon Mabury, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Zach Randolph and Shawn Marion.
There’s a discrepancy as to why the game never happened. Parker shed light. “The game was supposed to happen and everybody was on the team bus,” he said.
“Fat Joe got there first. Fat Joe and his entourage and when I say entourage he brought a THOUSAND people with him, literally. No cap! You know how the young people say it! He brought a thousand people with him and not to say that he’s not allowed to bring one thousand people but, he brought a thousand people and they were on the basketball court! They weren’t sitting in the stands, they weren’t outside the park… They were ON the basketball court!”
With that amount of people at the legendary Harlem basketball court, safety had to be a concern. Parker recounts that he didn’t feel comfortable with him and his team approaching the court because Fat Joe had so many people there at one time .
“So Jay-Z was like, “Listen. You guys have to clear the court for my players…” he said.
“Because they were sitting on our bench so we were like, ‘Listen. They have to clear the court for us so we can come sit on our bench and warm up…’ and that never happened, and we never got off the bus. That was the truth of the matter. Now what happened behind the scenes where they say Jay and Fat Joe really had “beef” and that’s why he brought his people with him — he brought the whole Bronx with him? But we just actually came to play basketball and whoever was supposed to be on that roster was there that day.”
Fair.
Dinner With Jay-Z or $500,000?
Lastly, since Parker knows Jay-Z so well, while chatting on Scoop B Selects Episode 1, we discussed whether he’d choose lunch with Jay-Z or $500,000.
He expressed his peace on the matter. “I mean, I’m not saying it for bragging rights because I’ve already had dinner with Jay-Z and I’ve hung out with him,” he said.
“He’s a very personable guy. If you’ve been around him, he’s not one of those guys that’s gonna be in a room and sitting in the corner. He’s very personable. He’s very approachable and he did engage with the guys on his team. Of course you know that 40/40 Club that’s his, and before and after every game that’s where we would be breaking bread upstairs in his VIP room up there; we would be in there playing pool joking around, a lot of laughs, you know? That’s what we did. So for those that didn’t meet him I can see why they would want to meet a guy like that — I mean, I don’t know. I wouldn’t pay $500.00 but I don’t have to! [laughs] Just like I see on social media; everything is about pictures and videos. That’s why you have these women out here paying all these dollars to take pictures with Chris Brown! What’s that about?”
Smush Parker Shared Tons of Anecdotes on Episode 1 of Scoop B Selects. Click Here To Watch The Full Episode.
