Parks won’t be in awe

In case he makes it to the final Gilas 12-man lineup, Bobby Ray Parks said recently he won’t be in awe of the opposition in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in July.

Several NBA veterans are expected to be in town for the battle to secure a ticket to Rio. San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker has announced his availability for the French national team. Nicolas Batum, Nando de Colo and Boris Diaw are possibilities in coach Vincent Collet’s Les Bleus cast. Andrew Wiggins has opted out of suiting up for Canada but there’s still no word from other NBA veterans like Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson if they’ll play in Manila. Enes Kanter and Ersan Ilyasova won’t show up for Turkey but New Orleans Pelicans’ 7-foot center Omer Asik has confirmed to play. Senegal will likely be bannered by 6-11 Gorgui Dieng of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

For Parks, it doesn’t matter who’s on the opposite corner, NBA vet or not. “My mindset is I’ll go at whomever is in front of me,” said Parks. “Since I played in the NBA Summer League, I stopped wearing jerseys of NBA players. Sure, I’m a fan of what they do as basketball players. I used to wear the jerseys of Melo (Anthony) and Kobe (Bryant). Now, I’m just wearing my own jersey. Playing in the NBA Summer League was a surreal experience. There I was wearing a uniform with the NBA logo and my name on the back of the jersey. It was unbelievable.”

Parks isn’t being disrespectful or arrogant. He only wants to be mentally ready to face anyone on the floor. Parks said in his heart of hearts, he believes Gilas can pull it off in the qualifier. “Basketball is basketball,” he said. “Like we say, bilog ang bola. The ball can bounce either way in any given game. The key is to come prepared to battle. It’s up to us to bring out our best. The homecrowd will be a huge factor. We’ve got a shot at it. Coach Tab (Baldwin) employs a great system. We’ve got awesome talent on our team. I think in that game against Iran (last week), we showed only glimpses of what we can do. Fans have yet to see our potential. Once we’ve put it together, we’ll be tough to beat. That’s why the training camp in Greece and the tune-up games in Turkey and Italy are crucial. It’s about buying into coach Tab’s system, making it work and playing together.”

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Parks, 23, said he’s not giving up on his NBA dream. He’s played for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League and the Mavs’ farm team Texas Legends in the NBA D-League but hasn’t made inroads in his trek to the majors.

“After the Olympics, I’ll sit down with Patty Scott and Chao Espaldon of East West Private and discuss what to do next in trying to get into the NBA,” he said. “Of course, every decision goes through Sir Hans (Sy) and my agent Charlie (Dy) is also in the loop. Personally, I’d love to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, that’s my favorite team and my dad’s, too. But I’ll play wherever the road takes me. I expect to be playing until I’m 32 or 33 and that may be even stretching it. Right now, I’m only 23 and I’ve got a lot of basketball years ahead. At the same time, I realize what is a dream and what is reality. I’m ready to accept my destiny. I think it’s beneficial to have a dream, to go for it. In the end, what’s important is how you live your life. I’m trying to make the most of my career as a basketball player because it’s always what I’ve wanted to do, to become the best basketball player I can be.”

With Gilas, Parks said he’s found a home. “Everyone’s equal on the team – that’s the beauty of Gilas – and it’s a blessing that I’m part of the pool,” he said. “Nobody’s ever called me a rook except coach Tab once. Gabe (Norwood) is like my big brother on the team and Terrence (Romeo) is cool to joke around with. I told Terrence I grew my hair because of him.”

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Parks said while moving from state to state trying to stay close to finding a spot in the NBA last year, he learned a lot. “Christopher Thomas got me ready for the pre-draft camp and the NBA Summer League,” he said. “Then, I met conditioning coach Tyrone Gordon at the Legends camp. Tyrone recently came out to Manila to work with me and he’ll be back when we return from Europe. Sir Hans signed Tyrone up as my personal trainer. He’s accessible and on call. When it’s necessary, he’ll fly over to Manila and work with me.”

Parks said his life as an NBA aspirant last year was like floating in limbo. “I went from Indianapolis to Las Vegas to Dallas, trying to get better,” he said. “It’s actually more challenging to work in Manila than in the US because you have to contend with traffic in going from one place to another. Luckily, I’ve got the Village Sports Club in B. F. Parañaque to go to. That’s where I work out on my own and the facilities are world-class.”

What endears Parks to his Filipino fans is he never forgets his Filipino roots which he’s proud of. He loves to speak Tagalog, he respects tradition, he lives Filipino values. He’s in constant touch with his Filipina mother Zhaine and sister Celine who are caregivers in Los Angeles. At the moment, Parks is unattached and totally focused on his basketball career.