Bucks Fans Should Be Encouraged By Jabari Parker’s Progress

There has been hype around Jabari Parker since high school. He wound up starring at Duke, then earned himself a high draft selection with the Milwaukee Bucks. Combined with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the pair were supposed to take the Bucks to heights not seen since the short-lived Ray Allen era. But then, just as they were both simultaneously playing well, Parker injured his ACL for the second time since joining the NBA.

Unfortunately for Parker, Giannis started playing like a pseudo-LeBron and the team made the playoffs without him. All of the sudden, the spotlight was gone and placed solely on his running mate.

The fact of the matter, though, is that Parker is the forgotten one because he hasn’t been available. He’s still a top-tier player, and from way under the radar, he’s finally getting his game back.

Parker started gearing up for his return by practicing with the Bucks’ G-league team, the brand-new Wisconsin Herd. Then on February 2nd, 2018, he finally returned to an NBA floor.  In a win versus the New York Knicks, the 6-foot-8 wing scored 12 points in 15 minutes, demonstrating that he was not afraid to jump and move around. Still, he wasn’t completely 100-percent and struggled at times in the games following.

After six games, he was shooting just 25 percent from three-point land and barely putting up nine points per game. However, in his last three games, he’s really started to put things together. First, he dropped 18 on New Orleans. Then he followed up on his best performance with a season-high of 19 in just 27 minutes. Plus, he got his stroke back from deep. He shot 62.5 percent from three over his last three games, finally putting his scoring average in double-figures for the season (10.8).

Overall, Parker has displayed glimpses of creating for teammates off the dribble, in addition to the inside-outside game that got everyone’s attention when he was totally healthy. Which brings us to the most important part of Parker’s 10-game comeback this year: he’s only missed one game since coming back on February 2nd, including both ends of the Bucks’ recent back-to-back.

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Moving forward, Bucks’ fans should be encouraged. He looks to be in the best shape of his career and is obviously confident in his abilities. Eventually, Parker’s minute restriction will be lifted and he will have more chances to finish games. Not to mention, this will be Parker’s first time in the playoffs (should he stay healthy). The coach is making the right move to slowly bring Parker along. Come playoff time, he’ll have all his timing back, and with the addition of Eric Bledsoe, the team will have a legitimate Big-Three to throw at whoever stands in their path.