Do not be misled, Bobby Ray Parks did not officially declined Gilas

(c) PBA Media Bureau

I have a small issue in the way the mainstream media has handled the statement of coach Yeng Guiao about the absence of Bobby Ray Parks in the Gilas practice.

In the second practice of our national team, nine players attended. They are June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood, Marcio Lassiter, Japeth Aguilar, Paul Lee, Troy Rosario, Mark Barroca, Poy Erram and RR Pogoy. 

Now, the mainstream media wanted to know why the big names were absent. And for Ray Parks, this was the statement given, credit to Spin.ph, 

Actually for today, we invited Ray Parks but he declined. My understanding is he declined to be part of the pool. I asked (team liaison officer) Yvette Reyes to get in touch with him, so my understanding is may iba siyang priorities - Coach Yeng Guiao

 The most critical part was the first two sentences. Coach Yeng Guiao invited Ray and Ray declined. Now, it is not actually clear for coach Yeng Guiao what Ray was declining. What if he was only declining to attend the practice last Thursday?

Then, about the last part. It is hard to think of any priorities that Bobby Ray would be willing to let go of an opportunity to play in the World Cup. We are not talking about the classification phase here. It is already the World Cup!

Back in 2017, when Ray Parks was still playing in the ABL and was asked about the possibility of playing in Gilas, here was his statement.

I would love to represent my country but at the end of the day, I'm just a kid who wants to follow my dream. To be honest, I'll be surprised (if I get a Gilas call-up) but I'll answer the call.

Why would he not answer the call now?

My point is simple, Ray Parks will surely clear things up. Maybe, he really declined to join the pool for the 2019 World Cup but if we follow the statement, there is also a good chance that he was misinterpreted.