Big Questions For Milwaukee Bucks In Wake Of Jabari Parker Injury
The Milwaukee Bucks learned Thursday that Jabari Parker will be sidelined for 12 months with another ACL tear. How does the team move forward this season and how does the future change for both the team and Parker?
Wednesday, Feb. 8, began brightly for the Milwaukee Bucks. After five months without a core rotation player, last season’s leading scorer Khris Middleton was returning to the court ahead of schedule.
His season debut was Wednesday night against the Miami Heat, the first step towards a healthy Milwaukee team coming together for the stretch run.
The Bucks have been floundering recently, losing 10 of their last 12 games, but were only a couple of games back of the eighth and final playoff spot.
No other team was adding a player of Middleton’s caliber for the stretch run, and with 10 of 14 games at home after Wednesday the road to the postseason was paved before them.
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That road was blocked almost immediately, as Jabari Parker‘s knee buckled on a drive to the basket during the third quarter of Milwaukee’s loss to the Heat. What was initially announced as a sprained knee was later confirmed to be an ACL tear.
Bad news: MRI shows JaBari Parker has torn his ACL again, league sources say. Official update from Bucks expected shortly.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 9, 2017
The injury occurred to Parker’s left knee, the same knee in which he tore his ACL during his rookie season with the Bucks. Parker will not only miss the remainder of the season, but early estimates have him out for 12 months — cutting off the first half of next season as well.
Where the road ahead was paved with high hopes, it is now paved in questions and uncertainty. How does the team move forward this season without Parker? And what does Parker’s injury do to the future of his career and the Bucks’ exciting core?