Lakers News: Why Kobe Bryant Refused To Speak With LA Teammate For 2 Years

Hall of Fame former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant is remembered for his competitive edge but, according to one former teammate during his playing prime, he may have taken it a bit too far.

Appearing on "Pablo Torre Finds Out" with the pod's titular host, two-season Lakers point guard Smush Parker, a comrade of Bryant's during his post-Shaq, pre-Pau wilderness years, made a shocking, depressing and honestly totally believable revelation. He never had a conversation with the five-time champ.

Smush Parker explains his side of his feud with Kobe Bryant:

"The man never spoke to me. ... I started with this man, I was his co-worker. Like we shared a cubicle side-by-side. How do you do that for two seasons and never hold a conversation? ... I'm not even going to get to… pic.twitter.com/3mnazvKPoA
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) December 19, 2023

"The man never spoke to me," Parker revealed. "I wasn't the 12th man on the bench, I wasn't the call-up from the G League who's trying to just fill a roster spot. I started with this man, I was his co-worker. Like we shared a cubicle side-by-side. How do you do that for two seasons and never hold a conversation? ... I shared a story about how I did try to talk to him. You know, I'm like, 'I'm the starting point guard with him in the backcourt, let me just try to talk to him.' I said, 'Did you happen to catch the football game last night?' And he looked at me, honestly, looked at me, and said, 'You can't talk to me. You need more accolades under your belt before you can talk to me.' He was dead serious. I'm not even going to get to how that's disrespectful as a man. That's self-evident. So that set the tone, never spoke to him again or tried to for two years, as the starting point guard."

Here's their full conversation, well worth listening in full.

Per Parker, Bryant claimed that Parker hadn't achieved enough accolades in his hoops career to be worthy of a conversation.

Not only is this petty and weird, it's also completely counterproductive when it comes to, you know, fostering positive chemistry on a team that supposedly wants to win.

The 6'4" Fordham product averaged has apparently made this claim for years, a fact he addresses in the Torre interview.

During his two seasons with Bryant, Parker started in all but two of his 164 games alongside the mercurial superstar, averaging 11.5 points and 3.7 assists in 2005-06 and 11.1 points plus 2.8 dimes in 2006-07.