After enduring a 15-67 season, there was light at the end of the tunnel for the Milwaukee Bucks.
There was a new face of the franchise with the ability to light up a scoreboard like a towering billboard in Times Square.
There was Jabari Parker.
The November Rookie of the Month spoke exclusively to SheridanHoops.com during coach Jason Kidd’s infamous return to Brooklyn. Parker discussed his transition to the league, his relationship with Kidd, improving his game and comparisons to Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce.
“I’m my own basketball player,” Parker told SheridanHoops. “Now that I’m able to get to the NBA, I’m just trying to form my own destiny.”
The 19-year-old modeled his game after Anthony and Pierce while growing up in Chicago.
However, modeling your game and being compared with two future Hall of Fame players isn’t easy for anyone at any age, let alone a kid who isn’t legally old enough to buy a beer.
I spoke to several NBA executives and scouts to examine if the Anthony and Pierce comparisons will become hype or substance in retrospect.
“Pierce was a dog, he was a killer,” an Eastern Conference executive told SheridanHoops. “He had an edge. If you play the wing, you’ve got to have some dog in you. Kobe (Bryant), LeBron (James), they all have that edge. He’s going to average 20 points per game in this league. I like him.”
“I think Paul Pierce later in his career,” an Eastern Conference scout told SheridanHoops. “I think the comparisons fit better when Anthony is playing a small four instead of the three. I think Jabari is going to have success in the league more as a small four than a three.”
Parker worked on all phases of his offensive game before tip-off in Brooklyn well before most of his teammates hit the court. Parker worked on his free throws, posting up on the block, elbow jumpers, 3-pointers (particularly from the top of the key) and one-on-one moves with Bucks assistant coach Sean Sweeney.
After watching Parker, I asked him what part of his game he particularly wants to improve upon.
“Probably my 3-point shot,” Parker said. “That’s just a new adjustment for me.”
For Parker, extending his range has become a point of emphasis since he is shooting 25 percent from beyond the arc into early December.
Parker struggled at times to get off a quality shot against Sweeney. Keep in mind, this was during the end of drills and shouldn’t be overly blown out of proportion. However, it’s a microcosm of what Parker must improve upon to reach his ceiling.
“He has to create better shots for himself,” an Eastern Conference executive told SheridanHoops.
At 6’8” and 240 pounds, Parker is considered a tweener at the forward position.
“All those guys that have become big-time scorers have had better bodies,” an Eastern Conference executive told SheridanHoops. “He’s got to tone up.”
As Parker enters his 20s, his strength will undoubtedly increase. Whereas most players entering the league have to put on weight and bulk up, Parker already has a solid base that just needs to be defined.
If Parker tightens up the loose ends with his 3-point shooting and physique, he can be as revered a scorer as Anthony and Pierce.
“Three or four years from now Parker, offensively, can be a nightmare for people,” an Eastern Conference scout told SheridanHoops.
“Offensively, he has the total package,” an Eastern Conference executive told SheridanHoops. “If he stays injury-free and gets his body right, that could take him to the next level.”
The biggest challenge for Parker is the dreaded “Rookie Wall.” A point when a rookie begins to look sluggish because he’s not accustomed to playing an 82-game season, which includes back-to-back games and a grueling travel schedule. By comparison, college players usually play half the amount of games at most and have multiple days to rest up in between games.
After just one month into his pro career, Parker acknowledged this would be his biggest adjustment.
“Well, just maintaining that passion day by day because in college and high school you have a stretch so now you have a limited time to get refocused,” Parker told SheridanHoops. “That’s been just the difference, just the time.”
Kidd is familiar with managing minutes after coaching Pierce and Kevin Garnett last season. Kidd was also burnt out in his last season as a player with the Knicks after playing heavily throughout the first few months of the season, which left his legs tired during the playoffs.
“We are deep and I’m trying to keep – not on purpose, but in a sense – minutes down because it’s a long season,” Kidd said. “For Jabari, he’s never seen 82 games.”
Parker is averaging 29.7 minutes per game through the first 20 games of the season.
Monitoring Parker’s minutes at the current pace could keep him fresher for a longer period, but at what cost?
“Kidd’s hurting Jabari by not giving him enough playing time,” an Eastern Conference scout told SheridanHoops. “He’s 19 years old. He should be playing at least 35 minutes a game. Instead, he’s playing 29. That sounds like not a big deal, but seven or eight minutes per game adds up. It’s a lot of experience.”
“In this day and age you play him,” an Eastern Conference executive told SheridanHoops. “The whole resting him because he’s so young, let him get that ‘I want to play every night and not want to come out’ mentality.”
“The best way you learn is on the court,” another Eastern Conference scout told SheridanHoops.
If you’ve ever played NBA 2K videos games, you didn’t beat your friends by studying the manual like an SAT prep course. You played the game often until it became second nature.
For Parker, finding that balance with Kidd will be imperative for Milwaukee’s playoff chances and his personal development.
With that in mind, I asked Parker how the dynamic has been from playing for one of the greatest coaches all-time in Mike Krzyzewski to a sophomore coach in Kidd.
“He’s experienced, but in a different way,” Parker told SheridanHoops. “I think more of on a player and captain side. It’s pretty much the same between him and Coach K.”
Parker told me he continues to talk with Krzyzewski “from time to time” during the season.
The Bucks hope Kidd can turn Parker into a fellow future Hall of Fame star for a perennial playoff tandem that will one day compete for a title.
Milwaukee hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2001 when Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell anchored the Bucks with George Karl at the helm.
Furthermore, it’s been 43 years since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson led the franchise to its last championship.
“I just want to be remembered as one of them, too, since I’m going to the Bucks,” Parker said on draft night.
After years of mediocrity and lottery-bound darkness, the light is finally at the end of the tunnel for the Bucks thanks to Parker.
“I feel like I’m going to be able to grow with that organization,” Parker added that night. “I’m trying to be a throwback player and only stick with one team.”
Michael Scotto is an NBA columnist for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.