Despite loss to Kansas, Duke’s Jabari Parker shines in return to Chicago

Jabari Parker is 18 years old, which means he's got a lot of learning to do.

Sure, his basketball skills are out of this world, something he proved Tuesday night in a 94-83 Duke loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic. Parker came back to Chicago — after being away for just a few months — and wowed the home crowd. The freshman scored 27 points, hauled in eight rebounds, splashed home four three-pointers, pulled off a Jordan-esque reverse layup over two Kansas defenders and finished off an alley-oop dunk that will make your jaw drop.

But he didn't win. And, if Parker's learned anything already in his brief time in Durham, it's that winning is the most important thing.

"It was good," Parker said of the experience in playing at the United Center, the house that Jordan built, in his hometown of Chicago. "Of course, it didn't mean nothing because we didn't win. That's the final result, that's all that we wanted to play (for). It's all good, newspapers said I'm back, but it don't matter if you don't get the victory and that's all we want at the end of the day."

-- Vinnie Duber, CSNChicago.com