Jason Kidd on Jabari Parker injury: "Hopefully he's back in the next couple days"

UPDATE: Jabari is reportedly heading to Cleveland for Thursday's game against the Cavs, per Gery Woelfel.

Jabari Parker's comeback from a torn left ACL suffered a setback with news on Monday that he had suffered a sprain of his right foot. A little over a day later we're still not sure when Parker may be back, though early indications suggest it might not sideline him for long. When asked about Parker's injury ahead of Tuesday's game in Washington, the ever-unflappable Jason Kidd didn't sound overly concerned.

"I think hopefully it's in a few days that he's back playing and then I think it's not a serious injury. I think when you look at the things he's done up to this point, it's alright for him to be sore. And so hopefully he's back sooner than later."

Kidd demurred when asked whether the right foot injury could have come as a result of compensating for his surgically-repaired left knee, though he went on to add that Parker could be back in the next week.

"I think any time you have an injury or you're coming back, there are going to be parts of the body that are sore, and I think just his foot is sore and hopefully he's back in the next couple days."

Granted, Kidd never seems terribly panicked about anything, though Bucks play-by-play man Jim Paschke echoed that sentiment earlier in the day on 105.7 FM The Fan, suggesting to host Bill Michaels that it's still possible that Parker returns before the team winds up its three game road trip on Saturday in Indiana. Parker being able to return in the next week would of course be great news, though this latest scare only further underscores the importance of playing it safe, especially given his knee injury and that Parker fractured the same foot back in 2012.

In other words: take your time, Jabari. Feet and knees are pretty important in basketball, so if another week off significantly reduces the risk of additional injury, by all means take it. The Bucks have talked all along about taking a measured approach with Parker's comeback, so we can only assume that when he's back on the court it's because he's ready.

On the court, the 20-year-old former Duke star had shown us plenty since returning to the court less than two weeks ago, flashing both the athleticism and unique scoring talent that makes him such a key cog in the Bucks' long-term plans. In the second part of our podcast recorded on Sunday (ie before the injury announcement), Eric Nehm and I discussed Jabari's progress on both ends of the court as well as what we've seen from Michael Carter-Williams and the upside of Giannis Antetokounmpo having bad shooting nights (unfortunately rather pertinent given his performance in Washington last night). Part I on the Bucks' defensive struggles and offensive identity can be found here, while our latest is below:

Download MP3 Audio