LAS VEGAS -- There are three types of players at Las Vegas Summer League.
The first are phenoms like D'Angelo Russell and Jahlil Okafor, the highly-touted draft picks who typically draw all the crowds. The second are the players looking to get another shot at the league, like gunner Jordan Crawford or former No. 2 pick Hasheem Thabeet. Type three is the Google group, the guys who force you to search their name because you know absolutely nothing about them.
That's where Bobby Ray Parks Jr. comes in.
In his homeland of the Philippines, Parks Jr. is a recognizable name, a golden boy for homegrown basketball talent. But in the United States, he's living under relative anonymity while playing for the Dallas Mavericks summer league roster in Vegas.
While he could be relishing in his notoriety back home, he's in Vegas chasing a lifelong dream, and looking to make a certain someone proud.
"[The NBA] is definitely the main goal," Parks Jr. said. "Not just for me, but for my father, too."
Parks Jr. is the son of Bobby Ray Parks Sr., an American basketball player who played collegiately at Memphis State (now known as Memphis), and largely regarded as one of the greatest imports the Philippine Basketball Association has seen. He played in the country for 12 years and won the Best Import award seven years in a row.
Parks Jr. spent the first 13 years of his life living in the country his father dominated professionally before moving to Memphis, in hopes of catching the eye of stateside college scouts. His skill set was clearly enough to earn a four-star rating from ESPN.com, and attract schools like Louisville, Virginia, Georgia Tech and New Mexico, who watched the combo guard win a state title at Melrose High School his junior year.
He eventually committed to Georgia Tech in November 2010, but the situation became complicated.
Summer Showdown
Parks Sr. had moved back to the Philippines to accept a position as athletic director for National University in Manila in June of that year, but was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. His son was left with two options: chase his NBA dreams, or be with his ill father.
"It was better off for my family," Parks Jr. said, recalling his decision to forgo playing at Georgia Tech. "My father was sick at the time, so I just decided to make that happen, and put my NBA dreams to the side."
While he realizes his decision would make his path to the NBA "definitely harder," it wasn't much of a debate for Parks Jr. to return to the Philippines.
"In the back of my head I wasn’t even thinking about it," he said. "I was just focusing on my father ... I just wanted to spend as much time as I could to be with him."
"We're hoping, man," Jon Mercado said about Parks' NBA dreams, a native of the Philippines now residing in Las Vegas. "First homegrown talent playing in the NBA. That'd be great."
"You have to be dedicated to what you’re doing, and know the sacrifices that it takes," he said.
Over the past several years, Parks Jr. has been an embodiment of that sacrifice. And as he laces up to play in front of a crowd who may have never heard of him before, he'll continue to work until he's recognized as an NBA player.