Since getting eliminated in the postseason by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has won a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games, watched his franchise trade for Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, dealt with numerous preseason injuries and—most recently—found himself in a verbal battle with Smush Parker, a former teammate.
Let’s take a look at the Black Mamba’s preseason and try to recap all of the highlights from the past month.
Foot Injury
Back towards the beginning of October, Bryant ended up missing a few practices with a foot injury.
Obviously, the pain subsided quickly, as the SG was able to get back on the floor, playing in numerous preseason games and practices over the past week.
Smush Parker Drama
What started out as a relatively harmless but disrespectful offhanded comment by Bryant has turned into a full-blown controversy.
Kobe recently spoke with Janis Carr of the OCRegister about his 2005-06 campaign, in which he nearly won the MVP award (it went to now-teammate Nash), despite the dearth of talent around him.
“I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team,” Bryant said. “I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown.”
Parker took offense to this, telling a ridiculous story during an appearance on Hard 2 Guard radio:
Midway through the first season, I tried to at least have a conversation with Kobe Bryant. He is a teammate, he is a co-worker of mine, I see his face every day when I go into work. I tried to talk to him about football and he tells me I can't talk to him. I need more accolades under my belt before I come and talk to him. He was dead serious.
The B...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
