If you're familiar with the post-Shaquille O'Neal Los Angeles Lakers, chances are the name Smush Parker rings familiar. Parker was a journeyman point guard already in his first two years, playing for three different teams before landing as the Lakers starting point guard and Kobe Bryant's backcourt mate.
On Monday, the former NBA point guard paid tribute to the late Bryant, expressing the regret of leaving their relationship unsolved.
“The toughest pill to swallow on today for me has been the fact that I didn’t get a chance to verbally speak with my brother to not only reconcile our differences but to find out if he actually had a relationship with The Lord Almighty,” Parker wrote on Instagram. “As today proves no matter how successful we are in life, when God calls for His breathe back our time here on earth is up. And if we don’t invest our time wisely here on earth, our life in eternity can be a very bad ordeal.”
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Parker posted Bryant-related videos since his death, with one of them expressing regret for not giving in to Bryant's greatness.
“Two Alpha Males, one team, one objective! My only “regret” is that I didn’t know how to submit to the greater Alpha!,” wrote Parker. “This was a case of #mambamentality meets Brooklyn #iWillNotLoseMentality”
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The two had their ups and downs during Parker's two-year run as a Laker, as he was openly criticized for not passing the ball to Bryant often enough at the tail end of his second season.
Bryant argued that Parker was a bad teammate, later saying in 2012 that Parker “shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard.”
Their relationship, though short, had soured before Parker moved on to play for the Miami Heat in 2007 after losing his starting job to rookie Jordan Farmar.
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