William Henry "Smush"Parker III (born June 1, 1981) is an American former professionalbasketball player. He played in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), theNBA G-League and several leagues overseas. Parker playedshooting guard in college but moved topoint guard in the NBA.
Parker was born inBrooklyn to parents William "Bill" Henry Parker II and Robin Royal Parker.[1] He attendedNewtown High School inElmhurst, Queens, where he was a star guard on their varsity basketball team.[2] He then enrolled in theCollege of Southern Idaho as a freshman in the 1999–2000 season and transferred to play college basketball atFordham University.[3] Following his sophomore season atFordham University, he entered the NBA in2002 but went undrafted.[4] During his sophomore season, he was Second Team All A-10 and Second Team NABC All-Region.[5]
While Parker was not drafted out of college, theCleveland Cavaliers signed him for the2002–03 season.[6]
In 2003, Parker signed withAris Thessaloniki of theGreek League (FIBA Europe) and helped the team win the 2004Greek Basketball Cup in the final againstOlympiacos. He returned to the NBA in 2004 and played for theDetroit Pistons and thePhoenix Suns.
He then signed a contract with theLos Angeles Lakers during the summer of 2005.
Not well-known entering the 2005 season, Parker gained recognition as the startingpoint guard for the Lakers under coachPhil Jackson. While many experts thought that either newly signed veteranAaron McKie orSasha Vujačić would start at point guard, Parker became the surprise starter in the Lakers' season opener against theDenver Nuggets[7] and went on to score at least 20 points in four of his first five games.[8][9] 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 rookieJordan Farmar.
While with the Lakers, Parker clashed withKobe Bryant. Bryant singled out Parker as a bad teammate, saying in 2012 that Parker "shouldn't have been in the NBA, but [the Lakers] were too cheap to pay for a point guard."[10] Parker would later detail how Bryant was a bad teammate, and after Bryant's death in 2020, confirmed that the two men had never reconciled their differences.
On July 26, 2007, Parker signed with theMiami Heat.[11] For the Heat, Parker wore jersey number 21.[12] 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.[4] After a physical altercation that Parker had with a parking attendant in November 2007, theMiami Heat put him on paid leave to investigate the matter.[13] On March 10, 2008, theMiami Heat officially waived Parker.[14] TheLos Angeles Clippers then signed him for the rest of the season on March 12, 2008.[4]
On July 10, 2008, theLos Angeles Clippers officially renounced their rights to Parker.[15] 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 theRio Grande Valley Vipers of theNBA Development League.
Parker never played in the NBA after the 2007 - 2008 season with the Clippers and thus his final NBA game ever was played on April 16, 2008, in a 75 - 93 loss to theHouston Rockets. In his final game, Parker recorded 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
On January 9, 2009, Parker officially signed withGuangdong Southern Tigers of theChinese Basketball Association.
In September 2010, he signed a one-year contract with the Russian clubSpartak Saint Petersburg.[16]
In January 2011, he returned to Greece and signed a contract withIraklis Thessaloniki.[17]
In January 2012, Parker signed withPetrochimi Bandar Imam of theIranian Basketball Super League.[18] He later played in Venezuela,[19] then signed with theIndios de San Francisco de Macorís of the Dominican Republic.[20] In December 2012, Parker signed withCibona Zagreb of the Adriatic Basketball Association.[21] After only 5 games inAdriatic League, Parker was released.[22]
In March 2013, he returned to Greece and signed a contract withPeristeri of theGreek League.
In January 2014, he signed with his former teamGuaros de Lara.[23] He left the team that March.[24] In June, Parker played inThe Basketball Tournament.[25] His team reached the semi-finals,[26] and Parker's averages for the tournament were 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game.[27]
In February 2015, Parker signed with Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons of the Mongolian National Basketball Association (MNBA). He averaged 24 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 4.1 steals per game.
On November 30, 2017, Parker signed with theAlbany Patroons of theNorth American Premier Basketball.[28]
| 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 |
| * | Led the league |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
Parker earned his nickname "Smush" at birth from his mother. "Smush" was a term of endearment for his father, so he became Baby Smush at birth.[29] Parker has one daughter from a previous relationship.[1] Parker is currently married to Noelani Parker.
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