Basketball PBA great Parks Sr succumbs to cancer

American Bobby Parks Sr, formerly a professional basketball player and the only seven-times Best Import awardee of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), has died at the age of 51, Yahoo! News said.

He passed away in the afternoon of Black Saturday after a long battle with laryngeal cancer at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, in Metro Manila’s Pasay City, where he had been confined for several months when his illness recurred after a two-year remission.

Parks Sr, who coached San Miguel in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), was forced to take a leave of absence last year after falling ill again. ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a political and trade bloc comprising 10 countries in South-East Asia.

The 6-foot-3 Parks Sr debuted in Philippine soil in 1987, leading San Miguel to the Reinforced Conference crown, via a 4-1 finals victory over Hills Brothers Coffee. The San Miguel coach then was Norman Black, the current coach of Talk ‘N Text.

Parks Sr had played for Memphis State in college and was the Atlanta Hawks’ third-round pick in the 1984 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft.

His son, Bobby Ray Jr, plays for the National University Bulldogs, in Manila, and is the reigning Most Valuable Player of the Universities Athletics Association of the Philippines.

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