The back of his jersey reads Parks, Jr. – not just Parks.
Needless to say, he’s paying respect and honoring the memory of his father, PBA Hall of Famer import Bobby Parks.
And it has been a great ride, with the son rising and surely making his dad proud in heaven.
Through the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup, Parks has zoomed to the top of the statistical points race. He could even be on his way to bagging the coveted top individual honors in the bubble, played at the AUF Sports Center Powered by Smart 5G.
With his chief rivals all gone, the TNT Tropang Giga-Barangay Ginebra may well be a virtual victory ride for the sophomore slasher out of National University.
Parks leads the stats ladder with 38.3 points on the strength of his solid averages of 22.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per outing.
Meanwhile, from nowhere, Phoenix Super LPG’s Calvin Abueva has jumped to second place with 37.1 points. He has averages of 15.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.7 steals in 12 games he played in his comeback from a 16-month indefinite suspension.
CJ Perez of TerraFirma, the scoring leader with 24.4 points per game, is in third with 35.7.
Taking a big fall from the top to No. 4 is Phoenix’s Matthew Wright (35.6) as he’s suffered from limited minutes he played after sustaining an ankle sprain.
Christian Standhardinger of Northport (34.6) rounds out the Top Five, with TNT’s RR Pogoy (33.5), Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle (33.1), Phoenix’ Jason Perkins (32.7), and Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson (32.7) among those barely out of the elite circle.
TerraFirma’s Roosevelt Adams and Meralco’s Aaron Black keep their one-two position in the stats race among the rookies.
But Black could well gain the nod of those involved in the balloting, with his team’s semifinal finish.
And in the end, two sons of great PBA Hall of Fame imports may take the spotlight in the season-end awards rites.
