MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd on Thursday, February 9th confirmed Jabari Parker suffered a torn ACL Wednesday night and will have a 12 month rehabilitation process after surgery.
The Bucks said this in a statement Thursday:
Parker left Milwaukee's game Wednesday night, February 8th against the Miami Heat in the third quarter with a sprained left knee.
Parker was driving to the bucket from the left side of the lane, making minimal contact with a defender with his body before falling to the floor. His left knee did not make contact, and appeared to buckle on the drive with 6:34 left in the quarter.
Parker hurt the same knee in December 2014, ending his rookie season after 25 games. The second overall pick in the 2014 draft was averaging a career-high 20.2 points.
The latest injury occurred on the same night that guard Khris Middleton returned from a hamstring injury. Parker, Middleton and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo form the Bucks' young core.
When the Bucks arrived at practice Thursday, the mood was understandably somber.
"Our energy, I think, is a little bit down now and I think we need to pick it back up. I thought we had a great practice today and I think that's the beginning of trying to turn it around and keep our heads up," Malcolm Brogdon said.
"It takes a spirit from us, man. Anytime you see a kid like that go down, I mean, I think he's the most improved player in the NBA. It sucks. Hopefully the results are not as bad as they seem with the injury and we can go on from there," John Henson said.
"Understand what we lost as a person and as a player, you know? We're all down. You never want anybody to lose anyone to injury, but we've gone through this before, not just with Jabari, but with Khris earlier in September. So it's the next guy up mentality and we've gotta rally with one another. It's got to be a team effort for us to get out of this funk," Coach Kidd said.
As Jabari prepares for surgery and a strong recovery, send your best wishes by signing his get well card.