Bryant Rips Former Lakers:
Kobe Bryant has played on some very talented teams. The five-time champion has also played on some very terrible teams. While the Los Angeles Lakers are arguably the best team in the league entering the 2012-13 season, it wasn’t long ago that they were rebuilding.
During the 2005-06 season, the Lakers were hard to watch. Bryant had a phenomenal season, averaging 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals. However, the superstar received little help from his horrendous supporting cast. Smush Parker, Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, Brian Cook, Luke Walton and Laron Profit played significant minutes and even started some games. Bryant, who is never afraid to say what’s on his mind, recently reminisced about that team.
“I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team,” Bryant told The Orange County Register. “I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown?”
Bryant was particularly critical of Parker, describing him as “the worst” and questioning how he made it into the league.
“He shouldn’t have been in the NBA but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard,” Bryant said of Parker. “So we let him walk on.”
This isn’t the first time that Bryant has openly criticized his teammates from the 2005-06 season. Last year, while speaking at UC Santa Barbara, he had plenty to say about Brown and his struggles in L.A.
“I got to say, it was tough doing it that year,” Bryant said of the 2005-06 season. “I was playing with guys – God bless them – but Kwame Brown, Smush Parker? By the way, what I say here, I say directly to them. I don’t talk behind people’s backs. The things that I say to you, I’m comfortable saying this to them and I’ve said this to them. But, like, the game before we traded for Pau (Gasol), we’re playing Detroit and I had like 40 points towards the end of the game. This is back when Detroit had Rasheed (Wallace), Chauncey (Billups) and those guys so we had no business being in the game. Down the stretch of the game, they put in a box-and-one so I’m surrounded by these players, Detroit players, and Kwame is under the basket all by himself. Literally, like all by himself. So I pass him the ball, he bobbled it and it goes out of bounds.”
Bryant rolled his eyes, slammed his hat on the table and then continued the story.
“We go back to the timeout and I’m pissed, right?” Bryant said. “He goes, ‘Hey, I was wide open.’ ‘Yeah, I know.’ This is how I’m talking to him during the game. I said, ‘You’re going to be open again, Kwame, because Rasheed is just totally ignoring you.’ He said, ‘Well, if I’m open don’t throw it to me.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ He said, ‘Don’t throw it to me.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m nervous. If I catch it and he fouls me, I won’t make the free throws.’ I said, ‘Hell no!’ I go to Phil [Jackson], I say, ‘Hey Phil, take him out of the game.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, let him figure it out.’ So, we lose the game, I go the locker room, I’m steaming. Steaming. I’m furious. Then, finally I get a call, they said, ‘You know what, we got something that’s happening with Pau.’ I was like, ‘Alright. Cool.’ The first game with Pau, we ran the pick-and-roll and I slipped him the ball. He catches it! I was like, ‘Yes!’ Then, he makes the shot! So, as I’m running back to the timeout, I’m screaming. I’m jumping on Pau’s back. It was like, ‘Oh, I have someone that can play.’ That’s what I had to deal with the whole year. And Smush, I’m not even going to get into that.”
Bryant can look back on that season and laugh, knowing that he’ll never have to put up with that king of ineptitude again. Now, he’s playing alongside Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, who are a bit of an upgrade over Smush Parker and Kwame Brown.
NBA AM: What’s Next for LeBron James? | HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors
Kobe Bryant has played on some very talented teams. The five-time champion has also played on some very terrible teams. While the Los Angeles Lakers are arguably the best team in the league entering the 2012-13 season, it wasn’t long ago that they were rebuilding.
During the 2005-06 season, the Lakers were hard to watch. Bryant had a phenomenal season, averaging 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals. However, the superstar received little help from his horrendous supporting cast. Smush Parker, Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, Brian Cook, Luke Walton and Laron Profit played significant minutes and even started some games. Bryant, who is never afraid to say what’s on his mind, recently reminisced about that team.
“I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team,” Bryant told The Orange County Register. “I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown?”
Bryant was particularly critical of Parker, describing him as “the worst” and questioning how he made it into the league.
“He shouldn’t have been in the NBA but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard,” Bryant said of Parker. “So we let him walk on.”
This isn’t the first time that Bryant has openly criticized his teammates from the 2005-06 season. Last year, while speaking at UC Santa Barbara, he had plenty to say about Brown and his struggles in L.A.
“I got to say, it was tough doing it that year,” Bryant said of the 2005-06 season. “I was playing with guys – God bless them – but Kwame Brown, Smush Parker? By the way, what I say here, I say directly to them. I don’t talk behind people’s backs. The things that I say to you, I’m comfortable saying this to them and I’ve said this to them. But, like, the game before we traded for Pau (Gasol), we’re playing Detroit and I had like 40 points towards the end of the game. This is back when Detroit had Rasheed (Wallace), Chauncey (Billups) and those guys so we had no business being in the game. Down the stretch of the game, they put in a box-and-one so I’m surrounded by these players, Detroit players, and Kwame is under the basket all by himself. Literally, like all by himself. So I pass him the ball, he bobbled it and it goes out of bounds.”
Bryant rolled his eyes, slammed his hat on the table and then continued the story.
“We go back to the timeout and I’m pissed, right?” Bryant said. “He goes, ‘Hey, I was wide open.’ ‘Yeah, I know.’ This is how I’m talking to him during the game. I said, ‘You’re going to be open again, Kwame, because Rasheed is just totally ignoring you.’ He said, ‘Well, if I’m open don’t throw it to me.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ He said, ‘Don’t throw it to me.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m nervous. If I catch it and he fouls me, I won’t make the free throws.’ I said, ‘Hell no!’ I go to Phil [Jackson], I say, ‘Hey Phil, take him out of the game.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, let him figure it out.’ So, we lose the game, I go the locker room, I’m steaming. Steaming. I’m furious. Then, finally I get a call, they said, ‘You know what, we got something that’s happening with Pau.’ I was like, ‘Alright. Cool.’ The first game with Pau, we ran the pick-and-roll and I slipped him the ball. He catches it! I was like, ‘Yes!’ Then, he makes the shot! So, as I’m running back to the timeout, I’m screaming. I’m jumping on Pau’s back. It was like, ‘Oh, I have someone that can play.’ That’s what I had to deal with the whole year. And Smush, I’m not even going to get into that.”
Bryant can look back on that season and laugh, knowing that he’ll never have to put up with that king of ineptitude again. Now, he’s playing alongside Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, who are a bit of an upgrade over Smush Parker and Kwame Brown.
NBA AM: What’s Next for LeBron James? | HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors
