Jabari Parker took time from what must be a grueling NBA pre-draft schedule to appear on Thursday’s episode of The Dan Patrick Show, where the 19-year-old Duke freshman star and potential overall top draft selection weighed in on everything from the league’s proposed age-limit requirement change to embracing all the growing Carmelo Anthony comparisons he now hears on the regular.
Since taking over for the long-running David Stern as NBA Commissioner just over two months ago, Adam Silver has made it well-known that one of his first orders of business is to raise the league age limit from 19 to 20, thus, more or less, requiring all college players to spend at least two years at that level before being able to declare for the draft.
“I think that’s ridiculous because a lot of people can enroll in service for their country, but they don’t want to give them an opportunity to provide for themselves and go apply for a job in the NBA, so I think that’s kind of ridiculous,” said Parker, who in his one season at Duke became the school’s all-time top freshman scorer and was awarded the Wayman Tisdale Award as the nation’s best first-year player. “I think it should depend on the individual.”
Overall, in his one season under legendary Blue Devils’ coach Mike Krzyzewski, Parker averaged team-highs of 19 points and nine rebounds, though he readily admits he’s now more convinced than ever he needed the seasoning he got at Duke before following in his father’s footsteps and embarking on his NBA career.
Later in the interview, Patrick marvels how at times Parker seems to score the basketball as easily as the veteran Anthony, the league’s second leading scorer behind Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. “But you pass,” he added, prompting Parker to respond “but I have a team.”
