Credit coach Jason Kidd, general manager John Hammond and the entire Bucks organization for not rushing Jabari Parker back from the ACL tear he suffered as a rookie. So far in five contests this season, he’s averaging a little over 22 minutes a game. But in Friday night’s double overtime win over the visiting Cavs, Parker played 30 minutes, and also offered two sneak peeks of the underrated athleticism Bucks fans might expect from the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
His first posterization came at the beginning of the second quarter against Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao, who were helpless to stop this one-handed dunk after Jabari looped in from the arc.
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But Tristan and Andy weren’t the only Cavs to appear on a Jabari Parker poster Saturday night. In the third quarter, after J.R. Smith gambled on a Michael Carter-Williams pass to the wing, Jabari caught the ball, hesitated for a second, then exploded left to unleash this two-handed smash on poor Kevin Love.
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To add insult to injury, Parker hung on the rim and hit Love with his legs like Michael Jordan did to Patrick Ewing after that famous alley-oop jam. No, not this dunk, but this finish on the fast-break oop:
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For the game, Parker finished 5-of-10 from the field for 12 points to go with three rebounds and dime. In the second half he hit an impressive fadeaway on Love, too, but he’s still finding his footing after his long convalescence. Thankfully for Milwaukee, they can afford to bring him back at whatever pace works for his body. So far, the slow return seems to be working.
