It has been a rather rough couple of years for Jabari Parker, who has been on a number of different teams since he started his career with the Milwaukee Bucks. Parker started last season with the Atlanta Hawks before getting traded to the Sacramento Kings a month before the season was postponed due to COVID-19. He then barely played for the Kings this season and wound up getting waived, only to be signed by the Boston Celtics in a somewhat surprise move.
Perhaps things are turning around for Parker, because he impressed in his Celtics debut on Saturday with 11 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. He even got some crucial minutes in crunch time and got a play called for him out of a timeout:
Here was Jabari Parker’s most impressive bucket from his Celtics debut. Out of a timeout, they ran a play that got him a duck-in near the restricted area. From there, he just went to work. pic.twitter.com/Q9tGlG2M1H
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 18, 2021
Parker's performance stood out to his teammates:
Marcus Smart on Jabari Parker: "He did very well. We were definitely ecstatic with the way that he came out, not really knowing the system and just playing basketball, being a basketball player."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 18, 2021
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens also shared his thoughts on Parker's first game with Boston. Stevens explained why he turned to Parker for so many important minutes:
Brad Stevens said the Celtics went to Jabari Parker because they needed his scoring: “Pretty good for his first night.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 18, 2021
Thanks to an impressive run, the Celtics find themselves in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 31-26 record. After facing adversity throughout the season and battling through rumors of Stevens' possible departure, Boston is back near the top of the leaderboard in the East and ready to make a playoff run.
The Celtics are hoping Danny Ainge's recent moves wind up paying off. Evan Fournier hasn't had much of an opportunity yet because of COVID-19 issues, but he should provide a scoring boost. And while it's just one game, Parker is already making his presence felt.
We'll see if Parker has a strong performance for a second consecutive game on Monday night, as the Celtics take on the Chicago Bulls, one of the forward's many former teams.