Jabari Parker Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: F
Born: 03/15/95
Height: 6-8 / 2.03
Weight:235 lbs. / 106.6 kg.
Salary: $6,500,000
Born: 03/15/95
Height: 6-8 / 2.03
Weight:235 lbs. / 106.6 kg.
Salary: $6,500,000
01 Sep
Before winning four state championships and back-to-back Mr. Basketball awards at Simeon, Parker attended camps where Chicago players he looked up to — such as Corey Maggette, Bobby Simmons and Antoine Walker — worked as instructors. “But the one that stands out for me is the Juwan Howard camp,” Parker said. “That’s why I loved every second of his Michigan hire. I know he really, truly loves the kids. He doesn’t need to coach. But his enjoyment for it and his energy toward it helps everyone around him. “Chicago basketball is a brotherhood. That’s why we need to come back. It’ll be a great summer for kids to have these memories. And I teach them most importantly to have fun. Do everything with hard work and emphasis. But if you’re not having fun, all that goes out the window.”
With exciting young pieces Trae Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter already in place, Parker joins fellow newcomers Evan Turner, Chandler Parsons and draft-day acquisitions De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Bruno Fernando. “It’s never promised that things are going to go well, but just from the energy that I’m feeling, it’s a good situation for me,” Parker said. “Trae Young is someone who can not only score but distribute. John Collins is a very, very good player. “I know the expectations. I can fulfill my role accordingly. I’m young, but they’re younger. One thing I take pride in is I’ve now been every player — from the first to last guy on the team. And I’m grateful for those experiences.”
How was your free-agency process and what factors were you considering? Jabari Parker: Well, I finished last year in Washington, where I played 25 games. I think it went really well, but they’re moving in another direction, so I needed to find the best place for me, the best fit for me. Once Atlanta showed interest, I jumped on it. I know what direction they’re going in; they’re definitely on the rise. They had a great year when you consider that nobody really expected them to finish the year the way that they did. I’m really excited about their team and I really think it’s a good fit for me… We have a lot of really good talent. A lot of these guys are very efficient. Now, we’re starting to get into the swing of things and developing our chemistry because that means more than anything.
You’ve been in the limelight since you were in high school. You’ve always seemed pretty mature for your age. Were you always that way, or did you have to grow up quickly because you were in the public eye at such a young age? Jabari Parker: I had to grow up really fast because, when I was younger, a lot of attention was thrown at me at a very fast pace. My mom always emphasized who I was and the importance of representing everybody – and whoever associated themselves with me – in a great light. I just wanted to make them proud. That was a time when I really wanted to put on for the community that I’m from. At the time, Chicago was dealing with a lot of violence and bad things in the news. I just wanted to show that not everyone from Chicago was like that. It’s definitely something I’ve worked on since I was a kid. I do admit that I’ve made mistakes and I’m not trying to be perfect, but I’m so grateful for those experiences and what I’ve been able to learn from them.
That’s a lot of pressure to deal with, especially at a young age. You were, what, 15 years old when those mixtapes came out and everyone started talking about you? You were one of the first phenoms to come up in the mixtape era or the social-media era. How did you deal with that immense pressure? Jabari Parker: I was about 16 years old. It was in 2011, I think, when YouTube and all of those basketball networks really took off. It was good for the culture and it was good for basketball when all of that came about. I never put so much pressure on myself. People can judge you, but His judgment – the man upstairs – is the only judgment that matters. When I have that type of outlook, everything else takes care of itself. I know that I make the right decisions. And maybe I will make some wrong decisions too, but, at the end of the day, we’re all the same. We’re all human. There’s just not as much pressure when I have that type of outlook.
