Bucks rookie forward Jabari Parker knows his NBA history, and is aware that there have been plenty of guys flame out who were selected No. 2 overall.
Parker is trying to avoid such a fate.
“There’s been a lot of second pick busts,” Parker said Saturday morning, at the grand opening of the redesigned Jordan space inside Nike Chicago. “I’m just trying not to be that bust. Everyday that I step on the court, I just remind myself that I have a long ways to go. If I want to be one of those guys in the first tier of the NBA, like a LeBron, like a Kobe, like a [Blake Griffin], then I have to have that mentality starting off from the ground, and work my way up.”
Guys like Darko Milicic, Michael Beasley, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Derrick Williams, Evan Turner, Hasheem Thabeet and of course Sam Bowie all fit that bill.