DID Bobby Ray Parks think that he'll never pick up a basketball again?
He said he was ready for it.
Though still at the peak of his game, it became a real possibility following the messy contract standoff with TNT Tropang Giga and other potential issues with the league.
Yet for the 28-year-old, if it meant that he could take care of his family, he'd gladly do it.
"To be honest, when it came to the hard work and stuff like that, I knew that I still had a lot more in me, but it was just more of like the business side of things," he told Radyo5's Power and Play with Noli Eala on Saturday. "At the end of the day, with everything is happening, there's still a business that we have to accept. And to deal with everything on the board, it's tough at times."
"If it got to the point where I had to step away from the game in order to take care of my family who is my priority, then I would step away from the game that I love, even if it's tough. My father always instilled in me that God gave me this career, so for me, that's the biggest thing, and I had to really stick to my priorities and to my foundations."
Lucky for Parks, a resolution was met as TNT granted him his release, leading to a golden opportunity in Japan as he came to terms with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in the B.League.
And make no mistake about it, the three-time ABL MVP can now gladly wear a smile on his face.
"I'm relieved, happy, excited, and I'm on the path of just trying to find peace and serenity and falling in love with the genuineness of basketball again," he said.
"Being away from the game that I love and being away from my country is always tough, but it is the necessary sacrifice needed," he said.
"At the end of the day, I am an extension of my father. I am the next bloodline, I am another chapter into it, so I just want to bring honor to the Parks family name and also to his legacy and my own legacy."
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