Jabari Parker On Time.com

Jabari Parker is a standup kid. For a young man that has grown up on south-side Chicago, he has a level head on his shoulders and a good attitude about life and basketball.

Time.com recently released an interview with him that gave everyone a glimpse into this young phenom’s head. If you haven’t seen the interview, you can watch it here. It was a fantastic interview, and Parker comes across as a student and an athlete in an exceptional way.

I wanted to break down my thoughts on it. Even though the Washington Huskies are never mentioned in the video, it has long been thought that he would at least consider UW and Lorenzo Romar. Mainly because his brother is a student assistant for the basketball program and Romar is friends with his father.

Let’s address that first, there is one mention of recruiting in the video. Time says, “Pinning him down on where he’ll go, is just about impossible.” And Brook Silva-Braga (seen in the above picture) asks him, “It has to be Kentucky or Duke right?” Jabari’s reply is curious, he chuckles and says, “Yeah but um, other schools too like Kansas and you never know about these mid-majors because they surprise everybody.”

Silva-Braga replies, “So you are leaving the door open to anybody,”

“Yeah, anybody at this point.”

This may scare some Husky fans away or may just cause them to pause for a minute. But in context of the whole interview, he basically says, any school has a shot. He isn’t the type to just go to an NBA factory for that reason alone, but because he fits there best. He even says mid-majors can come and recruit him because “they surprise everybody.”

His talent is off the charts, and that is recognized in this video.

• Derek Rose calls him more polished than he was in High school. Which is obviously a big statement coming from the reigning MVP of the NBA.
• Parker’s coach says in five years he will be in the top five of the NBA.
• He has been receiving scholarship offers since he was in seventh grade.
• He receives about 200 letters a week from Universities.

The list goes on and on in this video. One thing that is not surprising, Parker plans to take the fast route to the NBA. He will play a year or two if need be and then head off for the Draft. He says he will wait for when he is projected in the top five of the draft. Which could be after just his first year.

Lastly, the coolest or craziest statement, depending on who you ask is when he says he models his game after Brian Scalabrine. Not necessarily what Scalabrine does on the court but how he conducts himself off. He is humble and is always happy to be in the NBA and where he is at in life. Parker wants to play humble basketball for his whole career, even if he becomes the best.

All in all, if Washington finds a way to stay in his recruitment and even land him. He is not only good on the court and in the classroom but he is an excellent all around player. He is a game changer both on and off the court. He doesn’t love all the pressure or attention and he even said “it sucks”. He knows there are lots of expectations attached to him and that it is a burden.

However, this mindset is rare in basketball circles especially when that player can then turn on the killer instinct as soon as he laces up his shoes and hits the court. He is a rare breed of a human and as a basketball player and that combined with his talent could elevate him to one of the top NBA players.