Lakers Rumors: Former NBA Stars Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, And Smush Parker To Join Forces In New League?


The latest Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve the possibility of three of the team’s former stars reuniting for a league after the NBA. Could Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, and Smush Parker team up at the request of a celebrity to play on a Big 3 League team? If one former Los Angeles basketball star gets his way, the “Black Mamba” could be back on a basketball court along with his two former Lakers teammates. However, it could take quite a bit of work and lobbying to get Kobe suited up based on the latest Lakers rumors.

So what’s the catch here? Former Los Angeles NBA player Smush Parker really wants to team up with Lakers great Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom in Ice Cube’s celebrity recreational basketball league. However, that would involve Kobe and Smush burying the hatchet. The two have been involved in a storied feud over the years. However, Parker seems to think they could squash that and finally reunite. As HotNewHipHop reported recently, the Lakers rumors are that Smush Parker thinks if he were teamed up with Kobe and Odom, they’d dominate the league with the “triangle offense.”

Former Lakers player Smush Parker wants Kobe to team up again. [Image by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images]

As Parker mentioned in a brief TMZ interview video, he thinks they “would take the whole thing” in a league that features Kenyon Martin, Rashard Lewis, and other former stars. Regarding their feud over the years, Parker thinks “it’s water under the bridge” now.

“I think back then, we were both immature versions of who we are today… we work well together and I wholeheartedly, no doubt in my mind, know that we could’ve been the best backcourt in Lakers history.”

Parker was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers back in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, before leaving for Miami the next season, and the Clippers one season after that. The team finished at 45-37 in the 2005-06 season and then 42-40 in the next season, giving them third and second place finishes. For those wondering about the feud, a published LA Times piece from October of 2012 included Kobe’s comments calling the former guard “the worst.” Kobe even compared Parker to a “walk-on” adding he didn’t feel Parker should’ve been in the league, but that the team was “too cheap to pay for a point guard.” It seems Parker wants to forgive and forget, or already has by bringing Kobe with him to the Big 3 League.

For those wondering, the Big 3 League is a new celebrity basketball project that Ice Cube became a partner with back in late 2016. As HipHopDx indicated via Yahoo! Sports, the Big 3 League will be a three-on-three, half-court summertime basketball league. Ice Cube partnered with former NBA shooting guard Roger Mason, and they’ve apparently attracted several former NBA players to participate. Among them are former Pacers star Al Harrington, and former NBA journeyman Ricky Davis, who was a star alongside LeBron James in Cleveland.

Kobe officially said goodbye to the NBA at the end of the 2015-16 season. [Image by Rob Carr/Getty Images]

Of course, one has to wonder if Kobe Bryant would really come out of retirement for this sort of thing. He left the league after a farewell season last year that saw his stats seriously suffer, and the Lakers as a team simply play for a draft pick rather than their previous playoff glory. As it stands, one has to think Kobe is happy being retired and enjoying life away from basketball along with his family. Also, Kobe has been getting involved in other ventures such as investing in businesses and his own branding. As for Lamar Odom, that’s another story completely due to some off the court issues.

With the league games being held in the summertime it gives Kobe some time to contemplate the idea, as the reports are certainly getting out there with regards to Smush’s wishes. For Ice Cube and Roger Mason, it would be a major draw for that sort of venture. However, it ultimately comes down to whether or not Kobe is feeling that itch to return, and if he did, he might choose to do so in the manner a guy named Michael Jordan did, by playing for an NBA team again.

For now, it seems Kobe will stay retired, and Smush Parker will keep on having his hoop dreams.

[Featured Image by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images]

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