Nowhere to play

Bobby Ray Parks is in danger of throwing away his basketball career and the sooner he realizes it, the better so there is still a chance to get back on track. Apparently, Parks is asking for the moon to renew his TNT contract in the PBA and while the team has offered a two-year extension with a max salary, he’s not signing. The fact that TNT made an offer within 30 days of the expiration of Parks’ contract means it retains his rights not just in the PBA but anywhere in the world for the next five years. Parks will be 33 by the time he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Under PBA rules, a player who has played in the league for seven years and has no live contract at the end of seven years automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent so that any team can tender an offer for his services without the mother team owning the right of first refusal. This rule applies to rookies who entered the PBA starting in 2014. Parks has played the last two years in the PBA so he has five more years to wait before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Parks may not know it but there is an international rule that for a player to transfer to another team anywhere in the world, FIBA has to approve it. So unless FIBA gives its go-signal, he won’t be able to jump to another league. And FIBA won’t give its clearance without SBP’s green light. SBP will only clear it if the PBA does and the PBA won’t clear it unless TNT does. That chain is unbreakable and it serves to protect teams from recalcitrant players.

TNT isn’t entertaining the option of trading Parks to another team and besides, no team will be open to a deal involving him. So that freezes the ball on the PBA court for Parks. It also freezes the ball on any other court. FIBA rules state that “a letter of clearance must be obtained from the national member federation where a player was last licensed before he can be licensed by another member federation … this document certifies that the player is free to be licensed by another member federation.” No league in the world is exempt from this rule as even the NBA is represented in the FIBA Central Board by deputy commissioner Mark Tatum. SBP president Al Panlilio, who is also a PBA governor with Meralco, confirmed yesterday that Parks will need a letter of clearance from FIBA to transfer to another league.

Parks’ reported decision to go on a one-year sabbatical from basketball to take care of his ailing mother in Los Angeles is something nobody can question if he›s telling the truth. It’s a free country. But that won’t release him from his status with TNT. Neither will it mean opening the door to play in another league. Parks is in the prime of his basketball career and no matter how talented he is, he must keep his feet on the ground.