Parker Finds Niche in L.A.

William “Smush” Parker, the possible answer to the Lakers’ fifth-starter question, began his basketball days far from the suburban streets of his current residence in El Segundo.

As a teenager, he was often at “the cage,” the infamous New York City outdoor court with boundaries marked by chain-link fences flush against the sidelines and end lines, where hope and hoops intersect.

Parker, now 24, took his whacks on a court once dominated by Stephon Marbury, Mark Jackson, Anthony Mason, Kenny Anderson, Rod Strickland and Mario Elie.

“There’s a lot of fouling, extremely hard,” Parker said. “You’ve got to be a man to play in the cage. I took the fouls. I played through the contact. It took adjustment, but it definitely helps you develop your game as far as being mentally tough.”

Parker, a 6-foot-4 guard from Queens, N.Y., could turn out to be a Laker starter, although he is relatively unknown.

He attended Fordham for one year before declaring himself an early-entry candidate for the 2002 draft. Nobody selected him.

He was signed as a free agent by the Cleveland Cavaliers and averaged 6.2 points in 66 games in 2002-03 but was not brought back. He played the 2003-04 season in Europe, then bounced back to the NBA for a total of 16 games last season with the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns.

“I wasn’t down on myself,” Parker said. “I knew since my rookie season that making the NBA was all about opportunity. I was just being patient. I knew my opportunity was going to come. Just finding the right team ... and the right coach.”

The Lakers turned out to be that team, signing Parker to a non-guaranteed contract over the summer. The contract becomes guaranteed if Parker is still on the roster in mid-January, all but a certainty at this point.

The Lakers are hoping Parker can make open shots, play strong on-the-ball defense, make the right pass and not turn the ball over. That he won’t be the team’s first, second, third or fourth scoring option doesn’t seem to matter to him.

“It’s exciting to think of where I came from to now I’ll be starting for the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Parker, who received his nickname as a term of endearment from his mother, Lisa.

And, perhaps in certain situations, the skills he acquired from the cage will be put to use.

“You can’t really translate street-ball skills to the NBA -- you’ve got to be able to adjust to each game -- but there’s some cases where you have to be crafty with the ball, crafty in getting into the paint and finding your guys,” Parker said. “Sometimes the street comes out.”

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Guard Aaron McKie has averaged only 1.3 points and 11.7 minutes in three games because of what Coach Phil Jackson called a hamstring problem.

“I’m just trying to make sure that we don’t push that to a level where he comes in, he’s cold and he goes out there and we have another [hamstring] situation on our hands,” Jackson said.