At one point in his career, Atlanta Hawks forward Jabari Parker was in a similar situation that New Orleans Pelicans phenom Zion Williamson is now. Although he was never as hyped up as Zion as a prospect, Parker was also a Duke freshman who was considered to be a franchise-changing player. Parker, like Williamson, played one season of college ball and was drafted to a small market team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
Obviously, Parker never lived up to his lofty expectations, but he still has a chance to become a solid role player in the league. The Chicago native acknowledged that despite several similarities, he could never really advise Williamson, but left him with one small piece of advice:
“That’s a person that’s one of every trillion people that’s going to be in existence,” Parker said. “He’s up there with Goliath. There’s not much advice I can give, because I’ve never faced the type of celebrity and fame that he’s been able to do. The only thing I can say is for him to be his best self. Whatever decision he wants to make, whatever he wants to make to do to be happy, that’s great. No one can be Zion, but Zion.”
Ideally, Parker's advice strikes home in the Pelicans rookie. No matter what happens in his NBA career, there will be ups and downs, and only Zion will know what he truly wants out of this experience. The young man's got a bright future ahead of him, and hopefully, he makes the best of it.
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