Jabari Parker wants to be a schoolteacher after NBA career

Jabari Parker is only two years into his pro basketball career, but he already knows what he wants to do after he hangs up his sneakers.

The Milwaukee Bucks forward wants to go back to school and become a schoolteacher.

In a note published Monday in The Players' Tribune, the former No. 2 overall pick wrote, "I can't wait for the day when I can stand in front of a classroom. Going back and getting my degree is something that I promised myself and my mom the day I called her and my dad to tell them that I was entering the draft.

"Not a lot of people in my family can say they got a college diploma, so I want to do that - for them and for me."

The 21-year-old former Duke Blue Devil is also motivated by the legacy he seeks to leave in his hometown. He's grateful for the people who served as his role models and gave him hope of a better future, and now he wants to give back and become "an example for (his) community."

"I also want to do it for the kids of Chicago," wrote Parker, who grew up in the city's crime-ridden South Side.

"I want to become a teacher after I get out of the league, and help show kids what my dad and (my Grade 7 history teacher) Ms. Reed showed me: There's more out there than the gangs, than the liquor stores, than the violence. So next year, I'm going to start taking summer classes and working toward getting my degree."

Until then, he'll try to lead the fledgling Bucks back to the Eastern Conference playoffs. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists as a sophomore in 2015-16, when Milwaukee finished with just 33 wins.