There was once a time where the only time that the Lakers were championship contenders was on NBA Live 2005, when you pumped up their roster with guys such as Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, Ron Artest & Antwan Jamison before you started playing in Dynasty Mode… Well, now the Los Angeles Lakers have done that in real life & Kobe Bryant’s reflecting on the forgettable period of “Post Shaq & Pre Pau”.

In 2005-06 Kobe Bryant averaged 35.4ppg, scored 81pts against the Toronto Raptors, single handedly carried the Lakers into the Playoffs, this is what he had to say about his key team-mates Smush Parker, Chris Mihm & Kwame Brown:

“I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team,” said the 5 time NBA Champion.

“I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown?”

He then continued to dig into Smush by calling him “the worst. He shouldn’t have been in the NBA but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. So we let him walk on.”

The only real highlight of Smush Parker’s tenure at the Lakers was a game in Sacramento in January 2007 that I was lucky enough to be at, where Smush hit a buzzer beater to tie the game up at 117-117 at the end of regulation.

It was probably the only time you’ll ever see Kobe pass up a buzzer beater to a player he doesn’t trust… ever…

Even John Salmons said after the game “Everyone expected him to take that shot, No one thought he would pass it.”

The Lakers went on to win the game 132-128 in a packed out Arco Arena.

Check out my grainy footage of the shot here…