Smush Parker

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Smush Parker

Parker in February 2007 playing for the LA Lakers
Point guard / Shooting guard
Personal information
Born (1981-06-01) June 1, 1981
Brooklyn, New York
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Listed weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school Newtown
(New York City, New York)
College College of Southern Idaho (1999–2000)
Fordham (2001–2002)
NBA draft 2002 / Undrafted
Pro playing career 2002–present
Career history
2002–2003 Cleveland Cavaliers
2003–2004 Aris (Greece)
2004–2005 Detroit Pistons
2005 Phoenix Suns
2005–2007 Los Angeles Lakers
2007–2008 Miami Heat
2008 Los Angeles Clippers
2008 Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League)
2009–2010 Guangdong Southern Tigers (China)
2010–2011 Spartak Saint Petersburg (Russia)
2011 Iraklis (Greece)
2012 Petrochimi Bandar Imam (Iran)
2012 Guaros de Lara (Venezuela)
2012 Indios SFM (Dominican Republic)
2012–2013 Cibona (Croatia)
2013 Peristeri (Greece)
2013-2014 KK MZT Skopje (Macedonia)
2014-present Guaros de Lara (Venezuela)
Stats at NBA.com

William Henry "Smush" Parker (born June 1, 1981) is an American professional basketball player who has 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 at 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.[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.[8] 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.

In the 2008 off season 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.[11]

In January 2011 he returned to Greece and signed a contract with Iraklis Thessaloniki.[12]

In January 2012, Parker signed with Petrochimi Bandar Imam of the Iranian Basketball Super League.[13] He later played in Venezuela,[14] then signed with the Indios de San Francisco de Macorís of the Dominican Republic.[15]

In December 2012, Parker signed with Cibona Zagreb of the Adriatic Basketball Association.[16] After only 5 games in Adriatic League he was released.[17]

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

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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "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. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Clippers fall, sign Parker
  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. ↑ "Spartak pegs Parker at point guard". Eurocupbasketball.com. 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2012-10-17. 
  12. ↑ "Iraklis lands Smush Parker". Sportando.net. Retrieved 2012-10-17. 
  13. ↑ "Iranian team Petro signs Smush Parker and Joseph Forte | Asia". Sportando. Retrieved 2012-10-17. 
  14. ↑ Smush Parker. Latin-Basket
  15. ↑ "Indios Contratan Ex Nba Smush Parker". Lnb.com.do. Retrieved 2012-10-17. 
  16. ↑ Cibona adds Smush Parker
  17. ↑ Smush Parker released by Cibona

External links

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