Milwaukee Bucks: 5 Biggest Questions Following Jabari Parker Injury News
By Adam McGee
Will Jabari Ever Be The Same Again?
This is potentially the darkest timeline, and also the most uncertain question of all to answer. Coming back healthy from an ACL injury at top level sports is significantly challenging, and far from a guarantee. Jabari managed to do it once, but can he do it again?
While that being a possibility will rely on a successful surgery and a diligent rehabilitation period, there aren’t exactly a whole host of NBA players to draw comparisons for in this situation. In fact, there aren’t really any that fit a similar age profile to a 21-year-old Jabari Parker.
Bucks fans won’t need to be reminded of Michael Redd‘s multiple ACL tears. Redd tore both his ACL and MCL in January 2009, and sat out for almost a year before returning and again tearing both his ACL and MCL for a second time. After the second injury, Redd missed 14 months and returned as a man in his 30s who was never to be the same again.
Another player to have suffered a similar fate was Josh Howard, who tore his ACL twice (2010 and 2012) in the spell of three years like Jabari has, but again did so as he was crossing over into his 30s. In Howard’s case, the second injury ended his NBA career.
For many, knee injuries in the NBA often evoke thoughts of Jabari Parker’s fellow Chicago native and Simeon alumni Derrick Rose. While Rose has torn his ACL before, he also twice tore his meniscus meaning that his knee injuries in some ways run even deeper.
So the odds don’t sound great, but as a player with plenty of time on his side, Jabari will be something of a trail blazer in his recovery this time around. Even with the odds stacked against him the hope will have to be that if he’s done it once, maybe he can do it again.