CHICAGO - As expected, Ray Parks Jr. had a very productive 2023-24 Japan B.League season.
Per AsiaBasket.com, Parks appeared in 58 games with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins where he averaged 8.7 points per game while shooting at an extremely high clip: 45.7 percent on two-point field goals (90-of-197) and 38.2 percent from three (78-of-204).
The 6-foot-4, 204-pound guard also hauled in 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists a contest. Now a free agent, he will have plenty of suitors in Japan should he decide to stay in the B.League.
Per multiple sources, though, Parks is open to a PBA comeback.
"That's news to me," TNT coach Chot Reyes, whose team holds Parks' rights in the PBA, told me in a telephone interview. "We will be happy to have him. He knows that."
NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD.
Parks is one of the highest-paid Asian imports in Japan, pulling in enough cash to fill an armored truck, I'm told. So going to the PBA would require a huge pay cut.
But love, not money, appears to be the motivation for Parks, whose girlfriend, a model, actress, and a high-profile social media influencer, is based in the Philippines.
Last December, Parks went on Instagram to manifest an abundance of affection toward the impossibly gorgeous Zeinab Harake, whom the former NU star lovingly referred to as "the best mother to our kids."
I don't think money is his focus now," a Japan-based agent told me.
"Love is very powerful," said another source who has family ties in Japan.
Indeed.
Last October, Robert Bolick walked away from a very rich B.League contract with the Fukushima Firebonds so he can be home with his then-pregnant wife Cassandra.
Only 31 years of age and getting better every season, Parks can fill the void left by Mikey Williams at TNT. A Parks-Calvin Oftana-Roger Pogoy collaboration will be a lethal Big 3 for the Tropang Giga.
But after an acrimonious parting of ways, are TNT and Parks willing to put the past behind them and make this happen? That's the big question.
WHAT ABOUT THE RAVENAS?
Meanwhile, don't hold your breath if you're hoping for either of the indomitable Ravena brothers to go to the PBA.
Kiefer has an offer sheet and is currently negotiating a deal. A "gap" in his contract allows him to play for Strong Group Athletics (SGA) in the upcoming Jones Cup in Taipei. Everybody, it seems, loves to play for the Frank Lao-owned franchise.
Thirdy, who is still in Japan for team functions with San-En NeoPhoenix boosters, has yet to get an offer sheet, I am told.
But as he emerges from a magnificent 2023-24 season where he was named the "Impressive Asia Player of the Year," it's only a matter of time before the former Ateneo star gets a deal done.
Matthew Wright, formerly of Phoenix, is also unlikely to return to the PBA.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
