Smush Parker

Smush Parker

Smush Parker in February 2007 playing for the LA Lakers
Personal information
Born (1981-06-01) 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.

Early years

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.[1] Following his sophomore season at Fordham University, he entered the NBA in 2002 but went undrafted.[2] During his sophomore season, he was Second Team All A-10 and Second Team NABC All-Region.[3]

Professional career

While he was not drafted out of college, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed him for the 2002-03 season.[4]

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[5] and went on to score at least 20 points in four of his first five Laker games.[6][7] 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."[8]

On July 26, 2007, Parker signed with the Miami Heat.[9] For the Heat, Parker wore jersey number 21.[10] 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.[2]

Due to 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. On March 10, 2008, the Miami Heat officially waived Parker.[11] The Los Angeles Clippers then signed him for the rest of the season on March 12, 2008.[2]

On July 10, 2008, the Los Angeles Clippers officially renounced their rights to Parker.[12]

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.

On January 9, 2009, Parker officially signed with Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, making him one of the better known foreign players employed in the CBA, which was due mainly to his exposure gained in the country playing alongside Kobe Bryant.

In September 2010 he signed a one-year contract with the Russian club Spartak Saint Petersburg.[13]

In January 2011 he returned to Greece and signed a contract with Iraklis Thessaloniki.[14]

In January 2012, Parker signed with Petrochimi Bandar Imam of the Iranian Basketball Super League.[15] He later played in Venezuela,[16] then signed with the Indios de San Francisco de Macorís of the Dominican Republic.[17]

In December 2012, Parker signed with Cibona Zagreb of the Adriatic Basketball Association.[18] After only 5 games in Adriatic League he was released.[19]

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.[20] He left them in March 2014.[21]

In June 2014, Parker played in The Basketball Tournament.[22] His team reached the semi-finals,[23] and Parker's averages for the tournament were 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game.[24]

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

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season

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

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

References

  1. ↑ "Smush Parker bio". NBA. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 "Days after being cut by Heat, Parker signs with Clippers". Sports.espn.go.com. 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  3. ↑ "Flores Named To NABC District 2 Second Team". GoJaspers.com. February 11, 2002. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Cavaliers Sign Matt Barnes and Smush Parker to Contracts". NBA.com. September 25, 2002. pp. D1.
  5. ↑ "Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets Box Score November 2, 2005". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, November 3, 2005". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Atlanta Hawks at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, November 8, 2005". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  8. ↑ Medina, Mark (October 11, 2012). "Kobe Bryant riffs on Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Jodie Meeks". LA Times.
  9. ↑ Jackson, Barry (July 27, 2008). "Heat agrees to terms with guard Parker". Miami Herald. pp. D1.
  10. ↑ "of the Miami Heat at". Miamihoopsgear.com. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  11. ↑ "Heat waives Smush Parker". USA Today. March 10, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Clippers renounce rights to Livingston". USA Today. July 10, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Spartak pegs Parker at point guard". Eurocupbasketball.com. 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  14. ↑ "Iraklis lands Smush Parker". Sportando.net. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  15. ↑ "Iranian team Petro signs Smush Parker and Joseph Forte | Asia". Sportando. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  16. ↑ Smush Parker. Latin-Basket
  17. ↑ "Indios Contratan Ex Nba Smush Parker". Lnb.com.do. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  18. ↑ "Cibona adds Smush Parker". Eurobasket.com. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Smush Parker released by Cibona". court-side.com. January 16, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Smush Parker signs with Guaros de Lara". Sportando.com. January 8, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Guaros de Lara replace Smush Parker with Devin Green". Sportando.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  22. ↑ http://www.thetournament.com/teams/big-apple-basketball
  23. ↑ http://www.thetournament.com/bracket,
  24. ↑ http://www.pointstreak.com/basketball/player.html?playerid=38483
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