Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
In the playgrounds of New York, Smush Parker is a legend -- his game would stop traffic and he earned such nicknames as NBA Live, Grim Reaper and The Aviator. Other players who shared the courts with him included Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Rafer Alston and 7-foot-2 big man Josh Moore, who's taken up coaching after stints playing in the NBA, China and Iran.
In a recent radio interview, Artest mentioned Smush as one of the best ballers out of New York. In this FanHouse exclusive, we ask Parker if he ever dunked on Artest -- watch the video to hear the answer.
You'd think that since Smush is now out of the NBA, he'd look back on his time playing for one of the league's most storied franchises fondly, right? Not so much. In the following interview, Parker says playing for the Lakers was "overrated," and says any problems he had with the team started and ended with Kobe Bryant.
After much hand-wringing and "100 degree" reversals, Ron Artest decided against opting out of the final year of his contract with the Kings. By staying, he'll earn just $7.4 million, or less than half of the $16 million that guys like Elton Brand and Baron Davis left on the table in search of greener bank accounts pastures.
But while the Kings know they'll have Artest back (even if he's only a bargaining chip to be used in a trade), the same can't be said for Beno Udrih. Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports that the Kings called Udrih the first moment they were allowed to offer him the full mid-level exception over five years, but that may not be enough. Instead of settling for a mere phone call, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy met face to face with Udrih last night in New York to make his pitch.
There's no word yet if the Clippers will match Sacramento's offer -- and they may not be able to commit to anything until figuring out what they're going to do with Brand and Corey Maggette -- but it's not surprising to see that Dunleavy made contacting Udrih a priority. The Clippers desperately need a point guard after finishing last year with Smush Parker and Brevin Knight sharing duties and officially giving up hope on Shaun Livingston, whose rights were renounced.
In this episode of Gossip Time, my BFF Carmelo Anthony tells me about all sorts of silly things, like his elementary school trouble-making, his obsession with loud music, and of course his hair!
He also drops a huge bomb about Smush Parker at the 0:50 mark -- I had suspected this for a long time and Melo confirms. Oh, Smush ... I really can't be mad at you for this though.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.
In this video Marcus Williams tells about the origin of the Martin Luther King quote tattooed across this chest, but the interview really gets interesting around 1:50, when Smush overhears him downplaying the talent coming out of New York.
"The thing about the disgruntled player crying about 'I don't like it here anymore and I want out because we're not winning and I want a chance to win, but I want you to let me go and pay me,' I don't think there should be any buyouts," Riley said. "You want to go? OK, we save all the money. We won't buy you out. We'll waive you."
The team announced before Monday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers that Parker has been waived, offering no further details. Parker, who had an additional season remaining on his contract, received a significant buyout, including a significant payout for the $2.5 million 2008-09 option year he had on his Heat contract.
If Riles is against buyouts, then why did he grant Parker his walking papers? (Or sign Alonzo Mourning after 'Zo refused to play for the Raptors in in 2005? Or take back Eddie Jones after he got bought out by the Griz?) I will say, though, if Riley was really trying to screw Parker (above and beyond that whole "banishing him since November" thing), he did it the right way, releasing him after the March 1 deadline to make him ineligible for the playoffs.
Last week it was reported that Smush Parker had been summoned back to Miami from New York, where he had been spending the holidays. At the time, it seemed like injuries to Jason Williams and Chris Quinn had forced Pat Riley's hand, forcing the coach into bringing the banished point guard back into the mix.
The Heat and banished guard Smush Parker offered conflicting updates Tuesday on his status. Riley said Parker did not practice Tuesday and has not been working out with the assistant coaches or training staff.
However, Parker's agent said Tuesday there were expectations Parker would resume day-to-day activities at the start of this week. Tuesday was the first time the Heat practiced since its Dec. 29 loss at Washington.
Parker has been away from the team for over a month, so if he's added to the mix sometime soon, you'd have to imagine he'd need at least a handful of practices to catch up to speed.
Heat General Manager Randy Pfund confirmed Thursday that the Heat has summoned banished point guard Smush Parker back to South Florida.
A team spokesman, however, warned that the recall does not mean an imminent return to the active roster.
Even if he doesn't dress for Friday's game, at the very least he's a warm body for the team to use in practice until the team gets everyone back healthy. Plus, it'll be much easier for the team to trade him if they don't have to admit to any prospective suitors (Cleveland, anyone?) that they haven't even seen him in weeks.
"Oh, man, that would be the icing on the cake for me," he said. "Especially with the group of guys that they have now, still, some of the key guys that were there when I spent the best year of my career. It would be special."
Jones was one of the league's leading three-point shooters in 2004-05, his only season with the Heat. He also formed a close bond with center Shaquille O'Neal and guard Dwyane Wade. [...] "Man, I'm very comfortable with the system," he said. "I don't know if I could really say what I want to say, but I would definitely enjoy being back in that system and trying to get back that success we had some years ago."
I don't get it: what more does he want to say that he hasn't already? He wants to get out of Cleveland so bad he's willing to leave behind a team that played in the NBA Finals last year for a squad that's posted the second-worst record in the league thus far.
I always disliked Smush Parker as a player during his time with the Lakers, and if the following is true, I now have good reason to dislike him as a person. The Heat are officially investigating an incident involving Smush, a female valet attendant, and a parking fee of $12.
A Miami woman earlier this week accused Parker of twisting her arm over a dispute over a valet fee. She reportedly is seeking criminal charges against Parker ...
The Miami Herald reported that Yomaira McKenzie said Parker "lost it" Tuesday morning when he was asked to pay the $12 valet parking charged he owed at a condo building.
Denied his keys until he settled his debt, Parker allegedly pushed a valet podium and grabbed McKenzie's arm, according to the police report. Parker was not arrested or charged at the scene.
Pat Riley added that until the investigation is concluded, Smush will not be with the team and will remain on the inactive list, although he technically wasn't suspended. Whatever, Smush hasn't exactly been a major factor for the Heat this season, averaging 4.8 points in 20 minutes of action per game, and Riley was probably looking for a reason not to play him anyway.
As for the incident itself, Smush isn't exactly a math major, is he? Most of us have had issues with parking attendants, but for a guy that just inked a two year, $4.6 million dollar deal, you would think he could see that $12 is a completely inconsequential amount of money. All Smush had to do was pay the twelve bucks, drop a few choice profanities on the woman, and he would have been done with it. Instead, by getting violent with a member of the opposite sex, Smush now comes off as being even more flaccid than he was last season.
In the playgrounds of New York, Smush Parker is a legend -- his game would stop traffic and he earned such nicknames as NBA Live, Grim Reaper and The Aviator. Other players who shared the courts with him included Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Rafer Alston and 7-foot-2 big man Josh Moore, who's taken up coaching after stints playing in the NBA, China and Iran. 
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Last week it was reported that 
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