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Since suffering a second torn ACL back in February, Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker continued to progress through his recovery.
According to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the 22-year-old has already taken another huge step in his rehab from the injury as he been participating in dunking.
And you definitely wouldn't know Parker was still more than four months away from his targeted February return by the way he threw down dunks.
At one point, Parker caught a pass, drove into the paint and delivered a hard shoulder through Baker's pad into his chest before he pivoted, stepped through and hammered down a right-handed slam.
“You look at him and say, ‘Man, he's going to play tomorrow,' ” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “That just shows you how good he looks and how hard he's been working. I think we're all excited by where he's at today. We all understand he still has some time to go before he's cleared to play, but he's doing everything to get himself back.”
Although Parker has continued to make major progress, the Bucks are likely going to go the precautionary route with him given that it was the second serious leg injury in his three seasons in the league. There is no reason to rush him to risk a setback.
There may not be a solid timetable in place but he could sometime near the midway point of the 2017-18 season given that this type of injury typically takes up to a year to fully recover. If he were to return too early, there is a chance he could overcompensate because his body isn't ready for that physical workload.
Parker was showing much promise before the injury as he was experiencing a breakout campaign averaging a career-high 20.1 points on 49 percent shooting from the field and 36.5 percent from beyond the arc along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He had settled into a dependable scoring option behind All-Star forward Giannis Antetekounmpo to form a productive 1-2 punch.
