Kobe cracks Smush

Remember a couple of months back when ex-Lakers guard Smush Parker took a couple of jabs at Kobe Bryant on some local cable access show in New York? Or at least, it had the look of something out of Wayne's World. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is Parker ripped into Bryant, essentially calling him a bad teammate.

Bryant got a bit of a payback today at practice.

Here's the setup, former Daily News beat man Ross Siler, now covering the Utah Jazz for the Salt Lake Tribune, asked Bryant if he believed Utah's Deron Williams was in the same tough spot as Bryant was several seasons ago. You know, having to go it solo because of a lackluster supporting cast.

Bryant: "What I'm saying is that he has a little bit better cast than I did. It's not dire straits for him. But if you're asking if I feel bad for him? Absolutely not. No way."

Siler: "So he should just keep his head down?"

Bryant: "Yeah, just continue to play. They have some talented players there. They have a great coach. They'll be fine. ... It's not even close. They don't even have Smush Parker on their team. It's not even close."

Siler: "You guys never lost to a seven-player Golden State team with a bunch of D-Leaguers (as the Jazz did a couple of weeks ago)."

Bryant: "That's because I had to score 80 or we would have lost to Toronto, man."

Actually, it was 81, but who's counting.