Jabari Parker reacts to heavy Twitter criticism with class, tweet of his own (+video)

Shortly after Jabari Parker announced his decision to play his college basketball at Duke University under coach Mike Krzyzewski, Twitter lit up. Not all of the reaction was good.

ESPNChicago.com's Scott Powers wrote that much of the reaction in social media to Jabari's decision was negative, and that the abuse Parker suffered in the aftermath wore on him.

"I think I'm getting more tweets," Parker told Chicago radio station ESPN 1000. "Fans are just now giving me a hard time. They sometimes just forget I'm a kid. Real hateful stuff. It's no problem, though. I know it comes with the territory, and it's just going to make me stronger."

Parker put out his own tweet around 10 p.m. Thursday night. It read as follows:

Trying to grow up fast. Act with a lot of class. I want to be respectful ALL the time. Sometimes people forget I'm 17#strivingforcharacter

— Jabari Parker (@JabariParker22) December 21, 2012

Since the interview and subsequent publishing of the ESPNChicago.com article, people logged on once again to show an outpouring of support of Parker and his decision to play at Duke.

Here is a collection of positive tweets voicing support for Parker's decision and encouraging him to stay positive.

Landon Hemsley is the sports content manager for DeseretNews.com. Email: lhemsley@deseretnews.com. Twitter: @EarlOfHemsley

Read more about Jabari's reaction on ESPNChicago.com.