Jabari Parker Suggests He Left The NBA For Barcelona Because It's A "Watered Down" League And Totally Not Because No Team Wanted To Sign Him
Jabari Parker calls out the NBA, describing the league as "watered down," and outlines why he chose to leave for Barcelona
“I just want to be a part of something legitimate. I want to be a part of ‘every game matters’. Sadly, the NBA is a business and there are 10-12 teams that try to win every game and the other half try to get a Draft pick. Where does that leave good players? You either have to be super good or bad, to lose games. It’s no excuse to see DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard, or John Wall, guys who are potentially going into the Hall of Fame… seeing those guys not have a job? We are seeing the league getting watered down, unfortunately.” (Via@Eurohoopsnet)
Alright now hold on a minute here. Are we to believe that Jabari Parker is no longer in the NBA....by choice? I'll admit, that is a fantastic spinzone that is so outrageous I almost have no choice but to respect it. You see, the reason Jabari Parker isn't in the NBA right now is simply because the league is watered down. Despite being wide open and full of arguably the most talent they've maybe ever had, apparently the league is trash according to Parker.
Maybe I'm just a moron (legitimately possible) but wouldn't having players who are no longer NBA caliber talents in the league (like Boogie, Dwight, Wall, Parker) be what makes it "watered down"? Listen, I watched the Jabari Parker experience as recently as 2020-22 in his 22 games as a Celtic. There were certainly some moments at times,
but it's pretty clear why in 2023 there was no NBA team knocking on his door. The outside shooting isn't there, the defensive speed is most certainly not there, long gone are the Jabari Parker days when he was a Buck. Those other guys all had their chance to show they still belonged in the NBA, and they couldn't do it. That doesn't take away anything they did as players in their prime, but there's way too much better talent available to be giving out legacy roster spots.
To me, this sounds more like the typical move where you try and make it seem like you're not mad you're not in the NBA anymore because you didn't even want to be in the first place. You're classic "you're not breaking up with me, I'm breaking up with you!" move. We're to believe that if a team in the league was interested in giving Parker a fully guaranteed NBA deal he says no? Or that if someone calls him tomorrow to come join the team before camp he declines? I find that extremely hard to believe given the fact that the NBA is the pinnacle of the sport.
You know how we know this? Because he planned on playing for the Bucks Summer League team this year before he had to pull out due to a family matter. Fringe players participate in the Summer League in an attempt to make a roster because they want to be in the NBA, which seems to contradict his current stance now that he ya know....didn't make an NBA roster. If he was always going to choose Barcelona, why sign on to do something like that in an effort to get back into the league? The math ain't mathing on that one.
I would say Parker should focus on dominating in Spain and maybe that'll convince a GM to give him a look, but that's probably out the window now. I'm a firm believer in you can talk whatever shit you want as long as your game can back it up, and sadly that is not something Parker can do in 2023. There's still good money to be made overseas so it's not the worst life in the world, but cut the shit when it comes to why you aren't in the NBA right now.
It's not because you chose to leave. It's because you aren't good enough anymore.