WITH a big game for his home team, Bobby Ray Parks Jr. has reintroduced himself to his hometown crowd.
While he carries the name of PBA Hall of Fame import Bobby Parks with pride, the young Fil-Am cager said he is pleased to make his mark as Ray Parks Jr., giving the folks at Paranaque a good show on the way to setting an Asean Basketball League (ABL) record.
“It feels great playing in your hometown. I came from a kid playing in ligang labas, not being known by everybody, and known as ‘Parks’ kid,’" said the former UAAP MVP in his first game in the city where he spent his growing-up years,
“And then now, coming back, everything I’ve done and everything I’ve been through, the hardwork that I put in and coming back, just to see everybody appreciate me, it’s great,” said Parks.
Parks set a new ABL scoring for a local player, scoring 41 in Alab Pilipinas’ win over the Kaohsiung Truth at the Olivarez College gym.
[See Bobby Ray Parks explodes for 41 points as Alab asserts mastery of Kaohsiung]
Playing for the first time in a league game in Parañaque City definitely brought back memories of his childhood for Parks, who for so long was known in the neighborhood as being the son of the famous former PBA import.
Ray has since starred in the UAAP, played for the national team a number of times, and brought his talent overseas, suiting for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League and spending a season with the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate Texas Legends.
Now Parks is back playing for a local team, looking to bring the ABL title back to the Philippines.
He made his Paranaque homecoming a memorable one. Parks eclipsed the previous record set by Thai cager Kannut Samerjai of Mono Vampire, who had 38 points last year against the Westports Malaysia Dragons last year.
“It’s definitely one of those days that I would remember for sure. It feels great. First time ko nga lang maglaro dito sa Olivarez. It won’t be the last,” said Parks, who used to live at Fortunata Village.
“I ordered like 40 to 50 tickets tonight,” Parks added.
It wasn’t just the 40 to 50 people, for sure, that cheered his every move, including that highlight 360-degree lay-up that brought the house down late in the match.
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