Ray Parks Jr. —TRISTAN TAMAYO,
INQUIRER.NET
MANILA, Philippines—Bobby Ray Parks Jr. may be bound for the Japanese B.League but his forthcoming experience won’t be all that foreign.
In an interview with Noli Eala’s Power & Play program, Parks, who signed with Nagoya, said he’s looking forward to matching up against fellow Filipino players in Japan’s premier basketball league.
Parks is just among the several Filipino players that the B.League signed going into the 2021-22 season with Kiefer Ravena and Javi Gomez de Liaño both tapped by Division 1 teams Shiga and Ibaraki, respectively.
Ravena’s younger brother Thirdy, meanwhile, is the first Filipino to play in the B.League after signing with San-En the previous season.
“That’s a lot of great talent here. There’s a reason why they’re here and got recruited. And all I can say is that I’m proud of everybody and I’m excited to go up in competition with everybody,” said Parks.
“At the end of the day, we’re still brothers, we come from the same country and represent the same people. So that’s one of the things I’m actually excited for.”
Parks’ first game against a fellow Filipino will be on October 23 and 24 when his Diamond Dolphins face Kiefer’s Lakestars in Nagoya.
Kiefer and Parks will then have another go-around on February 5 in Shiga.
Just three days after Kiefer, Parks will then take on Thirdy’s NeoPhoenix with their second matchup on March 9 at the Diamond Dolphins’ home floor.
Gomez de Liaño’s Robots will then take on the Diamond Dolphins on January 8.
“Iron sharpens iron. And these kids and this talent, as I said, everybody that you named are here for a reason, and all you wanna do is compete with them,” said Parks.