Draft Profile: Jabari Parker

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Seriously, how could you not know him? Jabari Parker has been a household name in the basketball world for a good two years now. He was a top-flight recruit coming out of high school and then set school records during his freshman season at Duke. He’s a flat-out star. That’s why you might know him.

I had a lot of fun watching film of Parker, especially seeing as I’ve been covering the Celtics since 2009. I kept having Paul Pierce flashbacks. Parker’s game is eerily similar to Pierce’s in many respects. Both are premier scoring threats on offense. While they lack explosive athletic ability, they know the nuances of the game and have the skill level to overcome defenses. They just have an instinct to get their shot off. There isn’t a whole lot Parker can’t do on offense. He’s great in the post, showing off very sound footwork. He’s also deadly on face-up isolations thanks to his quick first step and his impressive step-back. Parker can also shoot the ball from all over the court and I can see him becoming an efficient 3-point shooter at the NBA level. He has such a smooth and consistent shooting motion, with nice rise on his jumper. He’s going to develop a soft touch on that jumper over time. Parker’s handle can get a little loose in transition, but overall, he’s solid with the ball. He will go both left and right and will also finish around the basket with either hand. He has very good vision for his position and usually makes sound decisions. He should be a legit assist man at the small forward position if he’s surrounded by talent. Parker has always been a good rebounder despite playing below the rim. He is not a leaper, but he has instincts and length to make up for that. Those traits also help him out on defense, but he still doesn’t excel at that end. Parker has heavy feet on defense and doesn’t always give max effort. His character tells me that that fact will disappear over time. He’s a smart kid and is agile, so I expect him to be a good team defender. His isolation defense, however, will need to improve over time. He’ll also need to learn to do his work early against post ups and use that big, strong body to his advantage. Parker is the type of player who can come into the league and average 20 points a night to go along with a handful of boards and a few assists. He’s a guy who can turn a questionable play into a good play, which speaks to his pure talent.

Parker was born on March 15, 1995 in Chicago, Ill. to Sonny and Lola Parker. He is the youngest of five children, as he has two older brothers and two older sisters. His family has an incredibly successful history in high-level sports. Parker’s father was a first-round draft choice (No. 17 overall) in 1976 by the Golden State Warriors. He went on to play six seasons in the league. Two of Parker’s uncles, Harvey Unga and Tony Moeaki, played in the NFL. Both of Parker’s older brothers also played collegiate basketball. Parker grew up in Chicago and attended Simeon Career Academy. He was the first freshman in school history to play on the varsity team, and he became the second player in the history of IHSA basketball to start for four consecutive state championship teams. Parker was chosen as the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and as Illinois Mr. Basketball twice. He was ranked second in the nation, behind only Andrew Wiggins, on the ESPN 100 list following his senior year. He was recruited by nearly every major program but eventually settled on Duke, where he played under Coach K this past season. Parker became a consensus first team All-American at Duke after averaging 19.1 PPG and 8.7 RPG during his freshman season. He declared for the NBA Draft on April 17 via a lengthy column that was posted on sportsillustrated.com. He is lauded for how well rounded a man he is at just 19 years old. He graduated high school with a 3.71 weighted GPA and was the President of Student Representatives for his Local School Council. He has also spent countless hours working in the community.