Jabari Parker talks about transitioning to European basketball and its growth in it, difference between the NBA and EuroLeague culture, and NBA return. He also finds purpose in Europe after NBA years -- meaningful basketball -- and embraces European style: "I play for tradition like the Yankees or Duke."
Jabari Parker is now in his second season with FC Barcelona, having made an immediate impact in his rookie year in Europe. It's not often that a former NBA player, especially one with a lengthy history of injuries, comes over and hits the ground running. But Parker did just that.
FC Barcelona / Schedule
Zalgiris Kaunas
FC Barcelona
ALBA BerlinHe wrapped up his debut EuroLeague campaign with solid averages of 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 9.6 PIR across 38 games, playing 24 minutes a night.
His stats in Spain's domestic ACB League were even better: 12.3 points (on 41.1% shooting from deep), 3.2 rebounds, and 11.3 PIR over the same number of games, but with slightly less playing time -- just over 21 minutes per contest.
What allowed him to make such a seamless transition to European basketball?
"Some people succeed, some people don't. As far as myself, I'm adaptable to any style because I'm not good, and I know that I'm only gonna contribute just because of my skill set," he told BasketNews after Barca's EuroLeague opener against Zalgiris Kaunas. "So it just depends on
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