The TNT Tropang Giga will be looking to elevate its situation with guard Bobby Ray Parks Jr. to the PBA Commissioner's office to clarify several issues.
PBA Chairman and team governor Ricky Vargas already had preliminary discussions with Commissioner Willie Marcial inside the TV5 Media Center, where both attended the virtual PBA Press Corps Awards Night on Sunday evening.
"I did mention that. We'll probably take a look at it from two points of view. This is not the first time that this incident has happened. We'll see how we can address this issue so that moving forward the policies are a lot clearer and fairer to everyone concerned," explained with Vargas.
He added that if Parks intends to play overseas once more, he would have to secure clearance from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the PBA, and TNT.
Parks, the Tropang Giga's top player based on statistical output in the 2020 Philippine Cup, shocked the league when he suddenly announced last Mar. 6 that he was skipping the upcoming All-Filipino conference due to "personal reasons which in particular, my family."
Vargas recalled that Parks texted team manager Gabby Cui last Mar. 3, informing him that he wanted to take care of his mother in Los Angeles, only for the team to find out that he was staying in La Union.
This prompted a pointed response from team owner Manny V. Pangilinan, calling everyone to judge for themselves.
"The problem, we found out later on that he's somewhere else, he's not in L.A. There is some dishonesty there. He's a great player, he's a potential player, he's a very strong player. But we've got to fix a little bit, his character to become a winner," mentioned Vargas.
Despite the big misunderstanding, the team executive wished that the 28-year-old would have been more honest about the situation.
"There must be something. I just need to understand what his real motivation is. Perhaps there is a different motivation, he just used another reason," explained Vargas.
With the loss of Parks, the team governor believes that the team will remain competitive in the upcoming season.
"We'll work around the difficulties and maybe this will give us more inspiration to work together as a team. Sometimes, difficulties like this make you stronger as a team. So that's more important."