Bobby Ray Parks Jr.

Bobby Ray Barbosa Parks Jr. (born February 19, 1993) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Ibaraki Robots of the B.League. A 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 meters) tall guard, he played college basketball for the NU Bulldogs for three years before declaring for the 2015 NBA draft, where he went undrafted.

Early life Parks was born on February 19, 1993, in Parañaque, Metro Manila, to Marifer Celine Barbosa, a Filipina, and Bobby Ray Parks Sr., an African American professional basketball player who was then active in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Parks Sr. had been drafted 58th overall in the third round of the 1984 NBA draft, and went on to become a seven-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Best Import awardee and Hall of Famer.

Parks Sr. and Barbosa separated. Barbosa moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2003, while Parks Sr. left for Memphis, Tennessee, in 2005. Parks and his younger sister, Celine, remained in the Philippines until 2006, when his sister went to live with their mother, while he went to live with his father and his stepfamily, who were also Filipino. He transferred to Melrose High School for the 2009–10 season and helped his team win a class AAA state championship. In November 2010, he committed to Georgia Tech as the No. 31-ranked shooting guard in the class of 2011, but later decommitted and followed his father back to the Philippines.

College career In September 2010, Parks enrolled in information technology at National University in Manila with the hopes of playing for the NU Bulldogs in 2011. Since he came from a foreign high school, he had to sit out one year before the 2011 season, which prevented him from winning Rookie of the Year as UAAP rules only allow for true freshmen to win the award. Nonetheless, he still qualified for the MVP award, which he eventually won during his first University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season with the Bulldogs, as he averaged 20.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per game and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of seasons 74 and 75. In June 2015, prior to the 2015 NBA draft, he was invited to work out with the Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics.

Parks went undrafted, but received an invitation from the Dallas Mavericks to play for their Summer League team. In six games for Dallas, he averaged 3.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game, becoming the first Philippine-born player to play in the Summer League. He became the second Filipino to be drafted in the NBA D-League after Japeth Aguilar in 2012.

Parks made his debut with the Legends on November 23, 2015, against the Austin Spurs. He went scoreless in 10 minutes of play and went 0-of-2 from the field. On December 13, 2015, he scored his first basket for the Legends. His putback layup with 14.5 seconds remaining gave him his first-ever basket in the D-League. He also finished with one assist and three rebounds in six minutes of action against the Sioux Falls Skyforce. On April 1, 2016, he scored a career-high 16 points against the Oklahoma City Blue. In 2015–16, he averaged 4.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 32 games.

After the Legends did not retain Parks for the 2016–17 season, he entered the 2016 NBA Development League Draft, where he was selected in the sixth round by the Westchester Knicks. He was unsuccessful in gaining an opening-night roster spot with Westchester, as the team waived him on November 9, 2016.

ASEAN Basketball League On November 18, 2016, Parks officially joined Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). On December 11, 2016, he scored a career-high 41 points and 14 rebounds against the Kaohsiung Truth. After his first season with Alab Pilipinas, he was named the local MVP of the season.

MPBL After his stint in the ABL, Parks joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), an amateur regional league in the Philippines which imposes a cap on imports, including Filipinos with foreign heritage like himself. He was signed in by Mandaluyong El Tigre in May 2018.

PBA Blackwater Elite Parks entered the 2018 PBA draft where he was selected by Blackwater Elite. He was the second overall pick for that draft.

TNT Tropang Giga Parks was traded to the TNT Tropang Giga from Blackwater Elite in November 2019 in the middle of the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup. In the Philippine Cup, which was the lone conference for the 2020 season, he helped TNT to its first "All-Filipino" finals in seven years, only losing to eventual champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

Parks Jr.'s contract with TNT expired after the 2020 season. In March 2021, he announced that he would not feature in the PBA for the 2021 season, citing personal reasons to tend to his family. While Parks is a free agent, TNT still holds the signing rights to him; he would only be able to play for another PBA team if TNT releases him without pre-conditions or trade him.

TNT and the PBA allowed Parks to play in Japan in July 2021, but TNT would have exclusive rights to re-sign him if he decides to return to the PBA within five years.

B. League Nagoya Diamond Dolphins On August 24, 2021, Parks signed with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins of Japan's B. League as the team's Asian import. On May 28, 2022, he signed a one-year contract extension with the team. On June 9, 2023, he signed another contract extension with the team. He left the team after the 2023–24 season. During his three year stay, Nagoya had always advanced to the playoffs.

Osaka Evessa Parks signed with another B.League team Osaka Evessa in June 2024. He was recognized as the Impressive Asia Player of the Year in the 2024–25 season. He played for two seasons with Osaka and played for them until 2026.

Ibaraki Robots Parks joins the Ibaraki Robots in July 2026.

National team career In 2015, Parks played for Gilas Cadets at the SEABA championships and the Southeast Asian Games.

In July 2016, Parks played for Gilas Pilipinas at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila.

Parks was part of the team that represented the Philippines in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. They won the gold medal after beating Indonesia 94–55, winning his 3rd SEA Games Gold medal in the process.

Five years later, Parks returned to the national team for the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup. The team failed to make the quarterfinals of that tournament.

Parks was included in the 21-man pool for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. However, he was not included in the 12-man final roster.

Career statistics

UAAP

NBA G League

ASEAN Basketball League

Philippine Basketball Association As of the end of 2020 season

B. League

Personal life On June 1, 2025, Parks married internet personality and content creator Zeinab Harake.