BOBBY Ray Parks Jr. is relishing the opportunity to show his wares in the Japan B.League and play against his fellow Asian imports.
“To be honest, it’s gonna be competition. We’re all just trying to feed our families but then, as soon as we step on the court, it’s bigger than what’s on the court, I feel,” Parks said on Radyo5 92.3 News FM’s Power and Play program hosted by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala.
“Now, we’re representing a whole country and showing that basketball is borderless and at the same time, you need to expand your horizons to allowing the game of basketball to give you different opportunities and to be able to allow you to travel, to be able to provide for your family, and play the game that you love,” he added.
The 6-foot-4 Parks was signed by Nagoya last week, joining the likes of brothers Thirdy (San-En NeoPhoenix) and Kiefer Ravena (Shiga) and Javi Gomez de Liaño (Ibaraki) in the league’s first division.
Juan Gomez de Liaño (Earthfields Tokyo Z) and Kemark Cariño (Aomori Wat’s) will also play in the second division.
“I feel like people should take advantage of that and be open-minded to that. But when it comes to the court, that’s a lot of great talent here. There’s a reason why they’re here and got recruited,” Parks said.
“All I can say is that I’m proud of everybody and I’m excited to go up in competition with everybody because you want competitions and iron sharpens iron.”
Parks, 28, said while there will be competition among them, he and his fellow Filipino cagers will remain “brothers.”
“These kids and this talent, everybody is here for a reason, and all you wanna do is compete with them,” he said.
“But then, at the end of the day, we’re still brothers, we come from the same country and represent the same people. So, that’s one of the things I’m actually excited for.”
Parks opted not to sign a contract extension with TNT last March, citing “personal reasons” why he chose to skip the PBA’s 46th season.
No less than former PLDT president and CEO Manny V. Pangilinan questioned Parks’ decision to take a sabbatical after he was seen on social media surfing in La Union with 30th Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Roger Casugay.
