Milwaukee Bucks rookie Jabari Parker suffered a left knee injury during their thrilling 96-94 victory against the Phoenix Suns. He immediately went for an MRI the next day which revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. The Bucks have announced (via twitter) that Parker is sidelined for the remainder of the season as this injury will be requiring surgery to repair.
The second overall pick in this year’s draft has been producing respectable numbers in his first 25 games with 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per contest, helping the Bucks gain a 13-12 record so far this season. He joins fellow rookie Julius Randle of the Lakers on the sidelines, who suffered a broken leg in his debut game.
Bucks forward Jabari Parker suffered a left knee injury during the third quarter of last night’s game in Phoenix. (1/3)
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 17, 2014
He returned to Milwaukee this afternoon to undergo an MRI that revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. (2/3)
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 17, 2014
Parker will undergo surgery to repair the injury and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season. (3/3)
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 17, 2014
With Parker out the rest of the season, a few major adjustments are expected to happen and one of them could be more minutes for their other rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Henson, in order to hopefully maintain strength and the balance in their front court.
Furthermore, it looks like the race for this season’s rookie of the year has just gotten more interesting with Parker’s injury. The number one overall pick Andrew Wiggins is slowly but surely improving every single game, and when he finally gets comfortable—it won’t be much of a surprise to see him win rookie of the year.
Parker has been dubbed by many to be the most NBA-ready rookie, which remains the only bright spot that Bucks can look forward to. It won’t be that much of a problem for a young player like him to fully recover from this and in fact, he’ll probably come back much stronger next season.
Get well soon, Jabari.
Benjamin Felix Santos is currently a senior college student from Manila, PH. An aspiring NBA writer who bleeds the purple and gold. His love and passion for the game will never die.
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