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Ref leaves Jabari Parker hanging at end of Bucks-Wolves

With the clock winding down on the Milwaukee Bucks' 103-86 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Jabari Parker set out to congratulate his teammates on their ninth win in 16 tries — a pretty impressive feat, considering last year's Bucks didn't get their ninth win until the 48th game of the season — and to show some good sportsmanship in the process. Apparently, though, official C.J. Washington — like many NBA vets — prefers that rookies be neither seen, nor heard, nor dapped up:

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I mean, sure, the 2014 NBA draft's No. 2 pick didn't exactly deliver an earth-shaking performance in his matchup with top overall selection Andrew Wiggins, scoring just 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in 36 minutes in the win. (Then again, Wiggins didn't really hold up his end of the bargain, either, managing 14 points on 4-for-14 shooting and mitigating his eight rebounds and four assists with six turnovers.) Still, though, a win's a win, and the Duke product's doing what he can to help new head coach Jason Kidd's hard-charging, long-limbed and athletic group produce performances more impressive than the sum of their parts. The least you can do is shake the young man's hand!

Ah, well. No matter. By deciding to turn his left-hanging moment into an opportunity for self-congratulation, Parker joins such NBA luminaries as Andrew Bogut, Gary Neal, DeAndre Jordan, Steven Adams and James Harden. There's worse company to be in, young fella.

While the head-to-head showdown of the top two players in this summer's draft didn't really materialize, there'll be plenty more for us to look forward to in the future ... even if Wiggins and Parker don't figure to spend too much energy chatting about the next meeting.

"It's a long-distance relationship," Parker joked before the game. "I don't believe in those."

No, clearly Jabari's interested in interactions that are much more up close and, when necessary, personal.

Hat-tips to @BucksSchmucks and Frank Madden of BrewHoop.

 

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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