Jabari Parker: Feet on ground, confidence sky-high
Jabari Ali Parker (Chicago, Illinois, 15/03/1995) is one of the key players in the FC Barcelona basketball roster this season. Having previously represented the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics, he was the number two pick in the NBA Draft of 2014, but has opted to try things out at Barça. He was in Hawaii and had been training alone after a two-year battle with a cruciate ligament injury, when he got the call from Europe and didn't think twice. After a while adapting to the European game, the power forward is now an important component of the Catalan team and spoke about his new life in an interview published in the latest issue of Barça Revista.
He had never had any white friends until he went to college, and this has defined his worldview. Since he was young he knew all about battling against expectations and thinking beyond the colour of his skin. "I am very committed to social causes" he says, "because you can't choose whose belly you are going to come out of. I couldn't choose my nationality or my race. When Barack Obama became the first black president in US history, that told millions of African-American children that we could be something other than a rapper or a basketball player."
Move to Barcelona
Jabari Parker feels somewhere as open and diverse as Barcelona is his ideal home. Although he still has a lot to discover, he feels part of a city where he has everything he needs. Now he's looking forward to new experiences, getting to know Europe and continuing to play in some of the world's most competitive leagues, which was one of his main reasons for choosing to come to Barcelona. The unconditional support from the fans at every game is one of things he finds different between European and American hoops. And he's thankful for that.
Not that he has lost contact with the NBA or old friends, like Jaylen Brown, now of the Boston Celtics and a Barça follower. Jabari is enjoying being one of the many Americans in the EuroLeague and wants to help make the league better. "It's interesting how we are diversifying the Barça brand" he says.
"We need to attract more talent to Europe to create closer ties that will benefit basketball. We need to look at how they do things in the soccer world, where there are fewer limitations or borders between players from all over the world."
Grimau impressed
His 201cm mean he is a constant threat anywhere on court, and when Parker finds his A-game, he is a player to be feared. Coach Roger Grimau is very aware of this, saying “we pounced on the opportunity to bring him here and he's developing really well. He's getting better every day, and getting to understand how we do things in Europe. He is a quality player. Whenever he has the ball in his hands, you know something is going to happen."
The amazing atmosphere at the Palau Blaugrana has really helped Jabari Parker to settle. “We're simple people" he says. "Aside from the main goal, which is to win, we like to laugh and have fun."
"I am the only real expert on who I am, and I know what I'm doing every day to get better."