Screenshot: Jijantes
Former NBA forward Jabari Parker recently completed his first professional season overseas with FC Barcelona. His arrival from the NBA was a headline-making move, and expectations were high. However, as the season came to a close, Parker couldn’t contain his emotions.
A video, after Barcelona suffered a defeat in the Liga Endesa semifinals against Real Madrid, went viral this past weekend. During a post-game interview, journalists asked Parker about his thoughts on his first experience in Europe—both in terms of basketball and life. The 29-year-old managed to utter a brief response, but then he broke down under a wave of emotions. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he couldn’t hold back his feelings.
DIRECTO @JijantesFC
La emoción de Jabari Parker en la entrevista con @MarcMundet78 después de la eliminación del Barça de baloncesto del playoff al título. Momento de piel de gallina #jijantesfc
https://t.co/OGW0AKBuBT pic.twitter.com/2tLnGCEdGP
— Jijantes FC (@JijantesFC) June 2, 2024
After seeing the video, plenty of fans were worried about Parker. Parker himself however now opened up about the video, and revealed that his emotional moment wasn’t triggered by sadness or frustration, but by gratitude and happiness instead:
“They were tears of gratitude. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to play again. In Barcelona, I’ve recovered my love for basketball.”
Despite the team’s struggles, Parker had a very good individual season. Most importantly, he managed to play a competitive year without any injuries after a long time.
