FROM all the overseas offers he got, Bobby Ray Parks felt the move to the Japanese B.League was the "best opportunity" for him to restart his basketball career.
"To be honest, there were other offers but then, when it came to the people that I was working with, they said that this is the right spot when it comes to the city, when it comes to coaching, when it comes to the management's support, and the country itself," he told Radyo5's Power and Play with Noli Eala.
"So as soon as this was open, I grabbed it and I told them, 'I trust you fully. Let's do it.'"
Parks was signed by the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins after the team narrowly missed the playoffs of the B.League's first dvision last year. Nagoya finished at joint ninth place last year with a 32-24 win-loss record.
There were other considerations aside from basketball that convinced the former UAAP MVP that Japan is where he wants to be.
"People are so genuine and kind, to be honest. I've read about the culture and really just how much they care about one another and even treat another person regardless if you're a tourist or a local. The respect that they have with one another is ridiculous," said the three-time ABL MVP.
"So for me, I just wanna be an extension and a representation of that for the city of Nagoya. It couldn't be no better, like they're very genuine people, very helpful. From the bottom of my heart, they're just great people."
Proud to be like dad
It's also a plus that the money is good, which Parks feels could greatly help his family, noting, "That really helped in giving me financial stability when it comes to taking care of my family and taking care of myself."
"I'm not getting any younger. In basketball, I know for a fact that it gets to a point where the ball will stop bouncing, and I wanna prepare myself for that," he added.
Now the work begins for one of the six Filipino players in the B.League this upcoming season. And he only has to emulate his late dad Bobby Parks, a seven-time Best Import awardee and a four-time champion in the PBA.
"Quite frankly, now it's just more of like a title, that you are an Asian import. But then I felt like I've been doing the responsibilities needed as an import. But you know, at the end of the day, it feels good right now to say that, 'Dad, you and I both are imports,'" he said.
"I know he would just tell me continue to be a professional in what I do, and every tip and trick that he would tell me every now and then even when I was in the Philippines, just watching game film and telling me to be more aggressive, making sure that I'm making the right decisions, and try and get a bucket.
"Because if not, if you don't they'll ship you out of there real quick. Everybody wants to be in your spot and it's a blessing to have your spot so continue to prove yourself each and every time you step on the floor. And the best way he'll put it is to tell me to put on a show."
Parks said he has been doing that his whole career.
"Every time I touch the floor, I feel like I always have a responsibility and a chip on my shoulder - and a bullseye on my back. Every time I step on the court, I have to play like an import, whether it may be on the ABL, whether it may be in the G-League, whether it may be in the PBA," he said.
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.
