Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker suffered a knee injury in Wednesday’s game against Miami, hurting the same knee he previously injured as a rookie.
On the night Khris Middleton returned to action for the Milwaukee Bucks, Jabari Parker was helped off the court by Thon Maker and Michael Beasley during the third quarter of his team’s game with the Miami Heat.
Parker sustained an injury to his left knee while driving to the rim, going down with minimal contact.
After bumping the right side of his body off of Heat forward Luke Babbitt in an attempt to create separation, Parker’s left knee appeared to buckle from under him, leading him to fall.
Bucks’ Jabari Parker helped off the floor after going down with non-contact knee injury pic.twitter.com/5qPs74fIFq
— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) February 9, 2017
Upon hitting the floor, Parker was reluctant to try to get back to his feet as he initially warned his teammates against helping him up. When Parker did eventually get up, he looked unable to place any weight on his leg and needed the support of his teammates to leave the court.
A non-contact knee injury is one of the greatest fears of an NBA player, but of course, in Jabari Parker’s case that fear is amplified due to his history.
Parker injured the same knee in his rookie season, and went on to miss over 11 months due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Bucks broadcast compares Jabari Parker's 2014 left ACL tear w/ his apparent left knee injury vs. Heat pic.twitter.com/3NK6lndXXi
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 9, 2017
A torn ACL is an injury famed for ending the careers of athletes across a variety of sports, and it’s rare to see a player come back more effective than they were prior to suffering it. In Parker’s case, that’s exactly what he managed to do, though.
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Jabari returned from his absence showing understandable signs of rust, but no ill effects in terms of athleticism. When he regained his playing rhythm, Parker thrived post All-Star Break in the 2015-16 season, and carried that play over to a 2016-17 season where he’s currently averaging over 20 points per game.
While anyone with eyes can see that there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the potential severity of Parker’s injury on this occasion, a proper diagnosis has of yet not been made (or at least made public).
The Bucks Twitter account did provide an update to indicate Parker would not return, but in such a short space of time a sprained knee would be something of a catch-all description for Parker’s condition.
Jabari Parker suffered a sprained left knee and will not return tonight.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 9, 2017
The Bucks ultimately fell to a 106-88 loss to the Heat, where on a night when Khris Middleton’s return seemed certain to bring some ray of light regardless of the result, Milwaukee’s luck may have taken an even crueler turn.
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For the moment, all we can do is hope and wait. Some day the Bucks’ luck has to turn, it would be greatly appreciated if that day could start right now.