Bobby Ray Parks, Jr.

Bobby Ray Parks, Jr.
No. 25 – Texas Legends
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League NBA Development League
Personal information
Born (1993-02-19) February 19, 1993
Parañaque City, Philippines
Nationality Filipino / American[1]
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school St. George's (Collierville, Tennessee)
Melrose (Memphis, Tennessee)
College National University (2011–2013)
NBA draft 2015 / Undrafted
Playing career 2013–present
Career history
2013–2014 NU-Banco De Oro (PBA D-League)
2014 NLEX Road Warriors (PBA D-League)
2014–2015 Hapee Fresh Fighters (PBA D-League)
2015–present Texas Legends (NBA D-League)
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Philippines
Southeast Asian Games
2011 Jakarta Team
2013 Naypyidaw Team
SEABA Championship
2015 Singapore Team

Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. (born February 19, 1993) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. A 6'4" guard, he played three seasons for the NU Bulldogs in the UAAP before playing for NU-Banco De Oro, NLEX Road Warriors and Hapee Fresh Fighters in the PBA D-League.

Early life and high school career

Parks was born in Metro Manila to Bobby Parks, Sr. and Marifer Celine Barbosa. His father was playing basketball in the Philippines.[2] Parks Sr. had been drafted 58th overall in the third round of the 1984 NBA draft and went on to become a seven-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Best Import awardee and Hall of Famer. Parks Sr. and Barbosa separated. Barbosa moved to Los Angeles in 2003, while Parks Sr. left for Memphis, Tennessee, in 2005. Parks and his younger sister, Celine, remained in the Philippines until 2006, when his sister went to live with their mother, while he went to live with his father and his stepfamily, who were also Filipino.[2]

After moving to Memphis, Parks started playing organized basketball at the age of 13. As a freshman and sophomore, he attended St. George's Independent School in Collierville, Tennessee, where he was named Tennessee's Division II-A Mr. Basketball as the state's private school player of the year in 2009.[2][3]

Parks transferred to Melrose High School for the 2009–10 season and helped his team win a class AAA state championship. In November 2010, he committed to Georgia Tech as the No. 31-ranked shooting guard in the class of 2011, but later decommitted and followed his father back to the Philippines.[4]

Philippines

College career

In September 2010, Parks enrolled in a computer course at National University in Manila with the hope of playing for the NU Bulldogs in 2011.[5] During his first University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season with the Bulldogs, Parks averaged 20.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per game and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 74th and 75th seasons. As a half-black, biracial Filipino, Parks had to adjust to being treated by referees as a foreigner as opposed to the native that he was.[2]

PBA D-League

Following the 2013 UAAP season, Parks joined NU-Banco De Oro, which had a school tie-up with NU, for the 2013–14 Aspirants' Cup.[6] In March 2014, he signed with the NLEX Road Warriors for the 2014 PBA D-League Foundation Cup.[7]

After being deemed ineligible for the 2014 NBA draft, Parks returned to the Philippines and joined the Hapee Fresh Fighters for the 2014–15 D-League season. Happee Fresh Fighters went on to win the 2015 Aspirants' Cup championship,[8] while Parks won the Aspirants' Cup MVP award.[9]

Professional Career

Parks is in pursuit of being the first Filipino-born player to play in the NBA. Parks became automatically eligible for the 2015 NBA draft as an international player who turned 22 during the calendar year of the draft.[10]

In June 2015, prior to the 2015 NBA draft, Parks was invited to work out for the Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics.[11]

Parks went undrafted, but received an invitation from the Dallas Mavericks to play for their Summer League team.[12][13] In six games for Dallas, he averaged 3.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game,[14] becoming the first Filipino-born player to play in the Summer League.[2]

NBA D-League

On October 31, 2015, Parks was selected by the Texas Legends in the second round of the 2015 NBA Development League Draft.[15][16] He was the second Filipino to be drafted in the NBA D-League after Japeth Aguilar in 2012.[17]

Parks made his debut with the Legends on November 23, 2015 against the Austin Spurs at the Cedar Park Center in Texas. He went scoreless in 10 minutes of play and went 0 for 2 at the field.[18] On December 13, 2015, he went on to score his first basket in his fourth outing of the Legends' 10 games. Parks’ putback layup with 14.5 seconds remaining gave him his first-ever basket in the D-League. He also finished with one assist and three rebounds in six minutes of action against the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[19] He finished the 2015–16 season playing 32 games, averaging 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds,0.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.1 blocks in 13.3 minutes per game.[20]

International career

In 2015, Parks played for Smart Gilas at the SEABA championships and the Southeast Asian Games.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Ray Parks, Jr., Signs Basketball Letter-of-Intent With Tech". Georgia Tech. November 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bartholomew, Rafe (September 1, 2015). "Song for My Father". Grantland. Archived from the original on September 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Avant, Parks Chosen DII Mr. And Mrs. DII-A Basketball". Chattanoogan.com. February 28, 2009. Archived from the original on September 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ The mystery of Georgia Tech's lost recruit
  5. ↑ NU Bulldogs acquire Parks and son Ray
  6. ↑ "Chris Banchero top pick in PBA D-League draft; Ray Parks set to banner BDO-NU squad". InterAksyon.com. September 19, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Former NU star Bobby Ray Parks signs up with NLEX Road Warriors in PBA D-League". Spin.ph. March 21, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  8. ↑ Hapee escapes Cagayan Valley in OT to win PBA D-League title
  9. ↑ Ray Parks bags PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup MVP award
  10. ↑ Motus, Bobby (September 11, 2015). "Bobby Ray Parks Jr.’s NBA dream". The Freeman. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
  11. ↑ NBA draft hopeful Ray Parks caps schedule with workouts for Celtics, Mavs
  12. ↑ "Was Bobby Ray Parks bypassed by Mavericks in favor of Indian player? US agents think so". Spin.ph. June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Ray Parks to play for Dallas Mavericks in NBA summer league". gmanetwork.com. June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  14. ↑ 2015 Summer League Player Profile – Bobby Ray Parks, Jr.
  15. ↑ "2015 NBA D-League Draft Board". NBA.com. October 31, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Legends Select Five Players in 2015 NBA Development League Draft". OurSportsCentral.com. October 31, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  17. ↑ Almo, Alder (November 1, 2015). "Texas Legends select Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. as 25th overall pick". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Ray Parks scoreless in NBA D-League debut". InterAksyon.com. November 14, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Ray Parks finally scores first basket in NBA D-League stint". InterAksyon.com. December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  20. ↑ NBA D-LEAGUE SEASON 2015-16
  21. ↑ Kiefer Ravena, Ray Parks lead 16-man Gilas pool for SEABA, SEA Games

External links

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