Alapag makes G league

Parks, Animam sign pacts overseas

MANILA, Philippines — Pinoy basketball legend-turned-coach Jimmy Alapag and players Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and Jack Animam are all beginning new chapters overseas.

Alapag was hired as an assistant coach by the G League club Stockton Kings yesterday as he gained a major boost in his bid to make it to the NBA someday.

For his part, Parks is taking his act to Japan and resume his playing career with Japanese B. League side Nagoya Diamond Dolphins while Gilas Pilipinas women’s team stalwart Jack Animan continues to trail-blaze via the Radnicki Kragujevac club in the First Women’s Basketball League of Serbia.

“Words can’t express how thankful I am for this opportunity to join the Stockton Kings for the upcoming NBA G League season. Looking forward to connecting with the entire Stockton community. It’s time to get to work,” said Alapag.

The 43-year-old Alapag got the appointment a few days after helping the Sacramento Kings win the NBA Summer League title as assistant coach to Bobby Jackson.

They will reunite at the camp of the Kings’ G League affiliate, Stockton, to try and replicate their NBA’s pre-season success.

Meanwhile, Parks became the sixth Filipino to join the Japan B. League.

“It is my honor and privilege to represent our team and I can’t wait to get out there and compete and do our best to bring home a championship to the city of Nagoya,” said Parks after inking a one-year deal under the league’s Asian Player Quota program.

Parks came off a stellar campaign with TNT Tropang Giga in the 2020 PBA bubble with averages of 22.4 points and 7.8 rebounds but decided to go on a hiatus earlier this year due to personal reasons.

The 6-foot-5 Animam is the first Filipina player in the European pro league and is out to continue her winning tradition from the Philippines and Taiwan.

A six-peat champion with National U and double-gold medalist in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Animam took the University Basketball Association (UBA) in Taiwan by storm earlier this year with a perfect campaign with Shih Hsin University (SHU).