The rookie season of No. 2 overall draft pick Jabari Parker came to an end, officially, late Tuesday night with the diagnosis of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The rookie injured the knee Monday night in Phoenix.
ESPN's Marc Stein broke the news at around 9 p.m. on Twitter:
Story going online now: ESPN sources say Bucks' Jabari Parker expected to miss rest of his rookie season with a suspected torn ACL
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 17, 2014
That report was followed up locally by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Source confirms ESPN report that Jabari Parker has been diagnosed with torn ACL and will miss rest of season.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) December 17, 2014
Through 25 games, Parker averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and was Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in October/November.
He did set a record in his short time as well, becoming the first teenager to produce multiple double-doubles within his first three career games.
The Milwaukee Bucks officially publicized the news just before midnight with a series of tweetsand a press release.
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
