Ray Parks Jr. is the latest Filipino to take his act to Japan after signing a deal with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in the B.League's first division.
The team made the signing public Tuesday and Parks explained to ESPN5 that his contract under the league's Asian Player Quota will run for a year.
"I am honored to be part of the Dolphins and will do my best to bring victory to the city of Nagoya," exclaimed the brand-new Dolphin in a team statement. "I can't wait to see my teammates, staff, and most of all, Dolfami."
"It is my honor and privilege to represent our team and I can't wait to get out there and compete and do our best to bring home a championship to the city of Nagoya," he added.
The 28-year-old is the sixth Filipino to head to Japan as matchups with Thirdy Ravena (San-En NeoPhoenix), Kiefer Ravena (Shiga Lakestars), and Javi Gomez de Liano (Ibaraki Robots) loom later in the season. Juan Gomez de Liano (Earth Friends Tokyo Z) and Kemark Carino (Aomori Wat's), meanwhile, will see action in the league's Division 2.
Last July, Parks was released by the TNT Tropang Giga following a drawn-out stalemate between the two parties that began after the 6-foot-4 guard announced last March that he would be skipping PBA Season 46 due to "personal reasons."
Before that, Parks powered TNT to a finals appearance in the 2020 Philippine Cup "bubble" in Clark, Pampanga, where he averaged 22.4 points (second-best) on 49.2/45.8/84.5 splits, 7.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.5 steals in almost 40 minutes per contest and 17 games.
The son of legendary import Bobby Ray Parks Sr., however, missed most of the Tropang Giga's clash against Barangay GInebra due to a calf injury.
His future now lies in Nagoya, which hopes to finally break into the B.League playoffs this time around after narrowly missing a spot in the West District last season with a 32-24 record, good for fourth place.
Parks and Nagoya will begin their campaign on October 2 against Sun Rockers Shibuya.