Jabari Parker hopes to follow in the footsteps of his basketball hero, Michael Jordan.

"I want to be just like Michael Jordan," said Parker, who stars at Chicago Simeon Career Academy. "Chicago greats get noticed around the city. People have a lot of respect for them. I look up to those guys a lot. I want to be part of that family."

Like Jordan, Parker seems to elevate his game when challenged verbally.

"When people talk trash, he'll listen," said Sonny Parker, Jabari's father. "He won't say a word, but he'll listen. It's like they woke him up. They shouldn't have said anything. Now, he's awake. Now, he'll let his game do the talking. He has that in him. It comes out by his play and his performance."