Jabari Parker seeks a second redemption in the cradle of basketball

BadalonaAsisa Joventut is making a strong statement. The Penya has secured the loan of Jabari Parker and will face the second half of the season with a formidable squad. The green-and-black team, which aspires to play in the final four The Badalona Basketball Champions League will pay part of the salary of the 30-year-old power forward, who is still under contract with Partizan. The Badalona team is reinforcing a position that had been weakened since Sam Dekker's departure.

After playing two seasons at Barça, where he staged a comeback that many doctors had ruled out after overcoming two very serious injuries, Parker signed with Partizan, whose performance has not lived up to expectations. The arrival of Joan Peñarroya, with whom he had not gotten along at the Catalan club, complicated matters for the American player. The player is now looking for a second chance at redemption.

Parker grew up in South Shore, a rough neighborhood in Chicago. "For me, it was a normal neighborhood, but the news and the media said it was a dangerous area. It was full of people trying to change the circumstances they had to live in. I guess I'm a reflection of the environment I grew up in, but I love it," he says. The former NBA star has fond memories of his early childhood. "My childhood was good. We didn't have much at home, but my parents never told me that. We did talk about values, though. If you have good values, you can be poor, but you can feel rich at heart. That's the upbringing I received from my family. That's how I grew up. We didn't have much. But I never lacked love at home," he explains.

Parker, who regularly used the metro when he lived in Barcelona, ​​is a very socially engaged athlete. "I don't belong to or support any political party. But for me, politics is about the community. You have to take care of the small things before you get to the big ones, take an interest in the people around you. I was one of the first athletes to speak out against police brutality against Black people. Unfortunately, I know from personal experience that I was once shopping and some Black people stole my sunglasses. I felt a bit sad because those same kids looked like me," he summarizes.