Can Smush Parker go from NBA player to a league referee?

F ormer Los Angeles Lakers point guard Smush Parker says he was “born with a basketball.” Both of his parents were ardent players, so Parker has been around the game since he was an infant. Now, though, he’s more likely to have a whistle in his hand. Yes, the 41-year-old is looking to become just the fourth former NBA player to referee in the league. But he says it’s no easy task to master the ropes.

“I never liked referees when I was a player,” says Parker, with a laugh. “I was an up-and-coming player, I wasn’t one of the stars. So, there were a lot of calls that didn’t go in my favor.”

Parker says if he makes the NBA as a ref, he won’t engage in the “unwritten rule” that the big stars get the calls. He knows everyone in the league is playing for a job, much like he was back in the day. The former guard, who signed initially with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002 after going undrafted out of Fordham University, says he remembers the day he got his first NBA contract and how meaningful it was to him. He ended up playing for both LA teams – the Clippers and Lakers.

“The coolest thing about playing in LA is playing for Hollywood,” says Parker. “You’ve got Jack Nicholson sitting courtside. Denzel Washington, who is also a New York guy from Fordham, sitting on the opposite side of the court. There are famous actresses, stars. You look around and you’re like, ‘These are the entertainers of the world and they’re here to be entertained by us.’ It was a pretty cool atmosphere.”

After his six years in the NBA, which ended in 2008, Parker played in China, Russia and Greece. On his travels, he took note of the different styles of play, from the athletic NBA to the more physical foreign offerings. He wasn’t so much watching the