Kobe Bryant responded to former teammate Smush Parker, who blasted him on an Internet radio show Thursday night, allowing the beef between the players to remain in the news cycle for another 24 hours.
The sour feelings between the two go back to their days together on the Lakers from 2005-2007. Parker says Bryant treated him disrespectfully, so in return, he stopped passing Bryant the ball. Parker also apparently irritated Bryant by trashing the five-time champion in a 2009 interview.
On Wednesday, Bryant ripped into Smush and several other former Lakers teammates unprompted. Parker joined Hard 2 Guard radio on Thursday to defend himself and criticize Bryant.
At Lakers practice on Friday, Kobe said he saw Parker’s response, and was asked for his reaction.
“I was devastated,” Bryant said sarcastically, via the LA Times.
“There’s really nothing else to say. I said what I had to say.
“I gave him his little 30 minutes of fame again,” Bryant said, putting down Parker once again.
Kobe finally decided to put on a straight face and speak maturely about Parker.
“I wish him the best of luck. He’s playing China right now, right? I wish him the best of luck. Maybe he can get back to the NBA one day, see what it’s like up-close again.”
I’m guessing that will be the end of the back-and-forth between the two. That is, unless one of them decides to speak up again, which you can never count out.
History of the Kobe-Smush Parker beef
Smush Parker: Playing with Kobe was Overrated
Kobe Bryant rips ex-Lakers; Smush Parker responds
Smush Parker: Kobe was a bad teammate, and I stopped passing to him
