Parks and recreation
BOBBY Ray Parks Jr. (I refuse to use his Mattel nickname) making a Greg Slaughter and announcing that he’s taking a break from the PBA is not surprising to me.
Parks’ reason for the sabbatical, however, came out of left field. “Family reason” isn’t always used as an excuse to forego a game much more an entire season in professional sports. Basketball is viewed by some as a macho sport and the last thing you want players to do is wear their hearts on their sleeves.
But, hey it’s 2021 and if NBA superstars like Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan aren’t ashamed to say they've been battling their inner demons, then who are we to judge Parks. Besides, the 28-year-old’s one-year contract with the MVP group’s flagship team has expired and he has no obligation to play for them anymore (his rights in the PBA are held by TNT seemingly in perpetuity however).
The son of PBA Hall of Famer and seventime PBA Best Import, Bobby Sr., Parks has had a colorful PBA career so far since the Blackwater Elite drafted him second overall in the 2018 draft (including a name-calling controversy with Calvin Abueva that involved his girlfriend). He, however, would spend only five conferences with the Ever Bilena Inc. franchise as the mother ship came calling.
At TNT, the 6’4” former National University stalwart and former UAAP MVP showed his worth and has proved to all and sundry that he’s ready to take over the leadership reins of the Tropang Giga once team cornerstone Jayson Castro retires.
So, after helping lead TNT to the finals of the Philippine Cup in the Clark City Bubble just this past December (he, however, sat out four of the final five games on account of injury) and in the process was one of the contenders of “Bubble MVP,” we now find Park at a crossroads.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Parks eventually ends up with Barangay Ginebra. His father played for coach Sonny Jaworski (happy birthday Big J!) although only during an inseason invitational and led the Anejo 65ers to the championship of 1988 Coca-Cola PBA/IBA World Challenge Cup.
It's also not the first time a superstar has pinned a move to the crowd favorites, as Parks Sr.'s teammate and the PBA’s only rookie MVP, Venancio “Benjie” Paras, requested a trade to Ginebra way back in 1993. He even sat out one conference to prove his desire to play for Jaworski and the La Tondeña franchise.
Parks is also best buds with resident Ginebra import Justin Brownlee from their days playing together in Alab Pilipinas in the Asian Basketball League. The Parks controversy has overshadowed the blockbuster trade of Ginebra 7-footer Greg Slaughter to 2019 Commissioners Cup Best Player of the Conference Christian Standhardinger of Northport Batang Pier that took a year in the making.
Like Parks, Slaughter took a leave of absence after his contract with Ginebra expired before the start of the 2020 season. Slaughter, however, didn’t want to leave Ginebra and in the contrary wanted to stay with the PBA’s most popular team. He went on sabbatical after rumors were rife that he’s about to be traded for Standhardinger, which eventually happened a year later.
On paper, the 6’8” Standhardinger is an upgrade against the slow-footed Slaughter, but 7-footers don’t grow in trees, especially in a country as vertically challenged as the Philippines. I just hope coach Tim Cone and Ginebra management won’t rue the day they traded away the former Ateneo and University of Visayas big man.
As for Parks, his fate can either be of Paras or Slaughter. One stayed and had a PBA Hall of Fame career with Shell. The other ended his sabbatical and re-signed with Ginebra only to be traded weeks later. No matter what happens, let’s give Parks some peace. At the end of the day, basketball is just a sport and sports are just another form of recreation. Let the young man play (or not).
Mark Rabago is a former reporter at Manila Times. He has continued his journalism career abroad, but remains a true-blue NBA and PBA fan. He can be reached at makyo73@yahoo.com.