Jabari Parker punished for talking about team meeting, report says

Miami - Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd said Saturday night that Jabari Parker did not start against the Miami Heat because he violated a team rule, but he would not specify the violation.

However, ESPN reported Sunday morning that Parker was punished for his comments after the 30-plus-minute team meeting in Orlando on Friday night, following the Bucks' 112-96 loss to the Orlando Magic.

Parker spoke to the Journal Sentinel after the game and said this: "I spoke up for the first time and it didn't go my way. I was getting thrashed, but hey, as long as I give them another perspective I did my job."

That apparently was enough to get Parker disciplined, although he did play 32 minutes and score 16 points in the Bucks' 109-97 loss to the Heat on Saturday.

Parker did not want to discuss the situation after the game Saturday other than to say, "It was a challenge. I tried to stay as positive as possible."

ESPN reported that Parker's teammates decided on the punishment and it came for disclosing information from a private meeting.

Kidd praised Parker's play after the game in Miami.

"I thought he did a great job," Kidd said. "He got into the flow of the game and I thought he was really good today."

Kidd also made another lineup change Saturday, inserting guard Matthew Dellavedova in place of Malcolm Brogdon. But Kidd said that was done in an effort to get Dellavedova going, and the guard responded with 15 points and seven assists in 35 minutes. Brogdon struggled off the bench, hitting just 1 of 10 shots and scoring four points.

The struggling Bucks have lost five straight games, including all three on a trip to Houston, Orlando and Miami. Milwaukee returns for a two-game home stand, playing the Rockets again on Monday and Philadelphia on Wednesday. This time the Bucks may get the 76ers without rookie center Joel Embiid, who has not been playing in the second game of back-to-back sets. The 76ers host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

The Bucks lost to the 76ers on their recent home stand and Embiid was dominant with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.

Milwaukee's slide has cost it ground in the tight Eastern Conference race and dropped it into the No. 10 spot, behind division rivals Indiana, Chicago and Detroit. The Bucks are 20-23 but still just two games out of the seventh spot and 2 1/2 games behind sixth-place Charlotte.

Kidd said he wasn't too concerned about the standings yet.

"We've got a lot of games to be played, so there's no reason to panic," Kidd said. "But we have to get back and start showing our energy and effort at a very high level. We can do it."