Ray Parks is now finally part of this year’s Philippine national men’s basketball team pool after being in “limbo” about his status with Gilas Pilipinas.
Parks, arguably one of the country’s top players outside the PBA, said it took a while for him to rejoin the national team as there was some “confusion” about the criteria to become a member of Gilas Pilipinas.
“The last thing I heard about it, you have to be a PBA player to join Gilas,” Parks, who last played for the national team in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament last year, told News5’s Lyn Olavario.
“I was in limbo to be honest.”
After fielding a lineup mostly composed of PBA players in the SEABA Championship, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes announced earlier this month the newest members of the pool. And that didn’t include Parks.
But the former NBA D-League player and the 2017 ASEAN Basketball League Local MVP eventually made it to the pool after reaching out to Reyes.
“He said he wanted to come in, he wanted to be part of the pool. I said, of course he’s welcome,” Reyes said.
However, Parks, who participated in Gilas Pilipinas’ resumption of practice last Tuesday, will not be able to play in the William Jones Cup in July as he wasn’t on the lineup sent by the team for the tournament.
But Reyes said Parks will defintely be considered for other tournaments such as the FIBA Asia Cup and the SEA Games.
Parks knows that despite his experience, it won’t be easy for him to make the cut.
“Definitely no assurance, this team is stacked. There’s a lot of great talent. I just have to find my way in,” he said.
