Parker discusses demotion by Bulls: 'I kept my end of the bargain'

Jabari Parker hasn't played a game for the Chicago Bulls since Dec. 13 after being banished from coach Jim Boylen's rotation. It's not how the 23-year-old forward envisioned his first season with his hometown team unfolding.

"It definitely isn't, and I'm sad to say that," Parker told the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson. "I kept my end of the bargain."

Parker inked a two-year, $40-million contract which included a team option with the Bulls last summer. After four injury-plagued seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft appeared to have a golden opportunity in the city he grew up in.

However, a self-professed aversion to defense derailed that. Still, Parker believes he deserved more of a chance.

"As I started getting better and better, it ended right there," he said. "It was unfortunate because I felt I was improving. And I just wish I had a little bit more chance."

Offensively, Parker was Chicago's third-leading scorer at the time of his demotion, but was shooting just 29.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Parker doesn't seem to blame Boylen, who had a near-mutiny on his hands not long after taking the coaching reins from the fired Fred Hoiberg.

"I don't think it's Jim's fault," Parker said. "It's bigger than Jim. I think it's the overall organization and the direction they’re going. I've done everything that's been asked of me. I didn't complain. I never had an argument or confrontation with anybody. I've done what I do."