Although I've been a lifelong Laker fan, over the last few years I've found myself stuck on the Smush Parker era that the Lakers so painfully had to endure. This was easy enough to explain when Smush 'dazzled' Phil Jackson by going over the 20 point plateau in 4 of his first 5 games as a Laker, and was subsequently awarded the starting PG job for the rest of the season. By 'easy enough to explain' I'm referring to actually having to suffer through watching the next 77 games, wondering what mistake was going to happen next. Wondering which play Smush was going to give up on. Wondering how much every basket was contributing to his ego. Well... fast forward a year and a bit and we got to see exactly how bad it got for Smush. He lost his starting PG job in the last week of the regular season to Jordan Farmar and thankfully was not brought back. Even better, the Miami Heat offered him a 2 year contract (wow, what a great judge of talent Pat Riley is)!
Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate success stories. I love to hear how people have overcome adversities and conquered their weaknesses because in the end, they've bettered themselves and are able to afford luxuries to those around them. This case, however, I don't have much sympathy for. Smush 'shake & bake you' Parker had the starting job handed to him because they Lakers were a depleted team in the rebuilding process... and instead of using that opportunity to add facets to his game and learn from those around him, he chose to focus on making the showtime plays and pouted when things didn't go his way. Sorry man, this is how the cookie crumbles. Maybe the And-1 tour is next on his list... or not. Afterall, NBA stars CAN'T take a step down and play for the 'Me-Me-Me' tour right? Thank GOD he wasn't one of the four PGs we had on our roster at the start of '07-'08.
Smush Parker @ Wikipedia
Smush Parker's official site (which still has Laker GoogleAds btw)
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