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Kobe Bryant never seems to miss an opportunity to trash former teammate Smush Parker.
In an interview at the USC Performance Science Institute in April, Bryant was asked if he knew who was the second-leading scorer for the Los Angeles Lakers during his 81-point game. When he was told it was Parker with 13, it was clear he was disgusted.
"Now you know why I had to score 81," Bryant said, per TMZ Sports.
He also guessed Parker had only scored four points.
Bryant, an 18-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion, scored 81 points against the Raptors during the 2006 season, a year where he didn't have much help on the Lakers. The future Hall of Famer averaged a career-high 35.4 points per game that season with Lamar Odom being the only other notable player on the roster.
Parker started all 82 games that year and ranked third on the team with 11.5 points per game, but he was out of the NBA in three years.
There was never much of respect from Bryant's perspective, calling Parker "the worst" in 2012, via Janis Carr of the Orange County Register (h/t Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports). "He shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. So we let him walk on."
He also reportedly told Parker not to talk to him in practice.
Even 12 years later, Bryant apparently still hasn't changed his opinion of his former teammate.
Kobe Bryant Rips Smush Parker Once Again When Talking About 81-Point Game
In an interview at the USC Performance Science Institute in April, Bryant was asked if he knew who was the second-leading scorer for the Los Angeles Lakers during his 81-point game. When he was told it was Parker with 13, it was clear he was disgusted.
"Now you know why I had to score 81," Bryant said, per TMZ Sports.
He also guessed Parker had only scored four points.
Bryant, an 18-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion, scored 81 points against the Raptors during the 2006 season, a year where he didn't have much help on the Lakers. The future Hall of Famer averaged a career-high 35.4 points per game that season with Lamar Odom being the only other notable player on the roster.
Parker started all 82 games that year and ranked third on the team with 11.5 points per game, but he was out of the NBA in three years.
There was never much of respect from Bryant's perspective, calling Parker "the worst" in 2012, via Janis Carr of the Orange County Register (h/t Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports). "He shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. So we let him walk on."
He also reportedly told Parker not to talk to him in practice.
Even 12 years later, Bryant apparently still hasn't changed his opinion of his former teammate.
Kobe Bryant Rips Smush Parker Once Again When Talking About 81-Point Game
