Ray Parks has huge footsteps to follow, but he has certainly lived up to the standards his celebrated name carries early in his PBA career.

Parks, whose father Bobby Ray Parks Sr is considered one of the greatest imports in PBA history, has once again found himself in contention for the Best Player of the Conference award.

“I still carry the Parks name and I just want to put my own footsteps down, bring my own chapter into play when it comes to playing in the PBA and creating more of a chapter for the Parks legacy,” Parks told One Sports’ The Game.

“Being able to be a candidate for this award, it really helps solidify that, in some ways,” he added.

Parks shone from the get-go, opening his Philippine Cup campaign with a blazing 40-point performance for TNT.

With Parks stuffing the stats sheet on a regular basis, TNT raced to a 5-0 start, qualified for the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, and reached the championship round after dispatching Alaska and Phoenix.

Parks topped the statistical points race with averages of 22.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.5 steals, but his season got abruptly halted due to the calf injury he aggravated in Game 1 of the finals.

As Parks sat out the rest of the best-of-seven series, TNT succumbed to Barangay Ginebra in 5 games.

Parks will have some tough competition for the award, with teammate Roger Pogoy, Phoenix’s Calvin Abueva and Matthew Wright, Barangay Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle, and Terrafirma’s CJ Perez also in the running.

“It is just a testament of the hard work you put in the offseason. To be going up against names like Stanley Pringle and Matthew Wright and all those guys is already a privilege and an honor,” Parks said.

“Those are some of the PBA’s greatest players in the present and towards the future. I’m excited for that.” – Rappler.com