Jabari Parker was not in the starting lineup on Saturday night in Miami as the Bucks lost their fifth straight game, as Milwaukee instead starting rookie Thon Maker in his place.
According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Parker was benched for violating a team rule prohibiting players from telling the media about locker room discourse. Parker recently told the media about what he said about his frustrations with the way the team was playing in a closed doors meeting that followed the Bucks fourth straight loss in Orlando.
“I spoke up for the first time, and it didn’t go my way,” Parker said. “I was getting thrashed, but hey, as long as I give them another perspective, I did my job.”
According to Haynes, Parker’s benching was a decision made by his teammates, not coach Jason Kidd, as a punishment for violating the rule about divulging sensitive information to the media. It’s interesting that Kidd allowed the team to determine Parker’s punishment rather than making that decision himself, and that they came to the conclusion that keeping him out of the starting lineup was the correct measure to take.
Parker didn’t see too much of a drop in playing time as he was on the court for 32 minutes off of the bench (he averages 34.1 minutes per game), scoring 16 points. Parker is expected to be back in the starting lineup on Monday when the Bucks host the Rockets.
