Smush Parker
From Hoopedia
William Henry "Smush" Parker (born June 1, 1981 in New York, New York) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA. Smush played shooting guard in college, but moved to point guard in the NBA. The name "Smush" was originally his father's nickname and was handed down to him by his uncle Naid (pronounced Nide), who died when Parker was eight years old.
Parker went undrafted following his sophomore season at Fordham University in which he was Second Team All A-10, Second Team NABC All-Region, and resided on the first floor of Alumni Court North dormitory. He had previously attended the College of Southern Idaho as a freshman in the 1999-2000 season. He played for Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. He has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, and Aris Thessaloniki (FIBA) before signing a contract with the Lakers during the 2005 offseason.
Little-known entering the 2005 season, Parker has gained recognition as the starting point guard for the Lakers under coach Phil Jackson.
While many experts thought that either newly-signed veteran Aaron McKie or Sasha Vujacic would start at point guard, Parker became a surprise starter in the Lakers' season opener against the Denver Nuggets and went on to score at least 20 points in four of his first five Laker games. This impressed Jackson, and now Parker finds himself in the starting line-up. Starting from the 2005-06 season Parker started in 162 straight games games averaging 11.5 points. But during the last two games of the regular season and the playoffs (2006-2007) , Parker lost his starting spot to rookie Jordan Farmar.
On July 26, 2007, Parker signed with the Miami Heat. For the Heat, Parker wore jersey number 21. 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.
Due to a physical altercation that Parker had with a parking attendant in November 2007, the Miami Heat put him on paid leave to investigate the matter. On March 10, 2008, the Miami Heat officially waived Parker. The Los Angeles Clippers then signed him for the rest of the season on March 12, 2008.
Before stepping foot on an NBA floor, Parker honed his basketball skills at "The Cage" on Manhattan's West Fourth Street, earning the nickname "Grim Reaper" (which he also has tattooed on his right arm). Parker also has the nicknames "NBA Live" and "The Aviator", which he got from Randy Cruz, one of the co-founders of the Hoops In The Sun basketball league at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York.
Parker also played for Aris in Greece in season 2003/2004 and won the Greek Cup in the final against Olympiacos.
As a high school student, Parker also modeled for Nautica apparel.
