William Henry "Smush" Parker III (born June 1, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player.
[1] He attended Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, where he was a star guard on their varsity basketball team.
Not well-known entering the 2005 season, Parker gained recognition as the starting point guard for the Lakers under coach Phil Jackson.
During the last two games of the regular season and the playoffs (2006–2007), Parker lost his starting spot to rookie Jordan Farmar.
[12] 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.
[4] After 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 January 9, 2009, Parker officially signed with Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
[17] In January 2012, Parker signed with Petrochimi Bandar Imam of the Iranian Basketball Super League.
[25] His team reached the semi-finals,[26] and Parker's averages for the tournament were 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
[27] In February 2015, Parker signed with Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons of the Mongolian National Basketball Association (MNBA).