Background
Townsend was born in San Jose, California.
Townsend was born in San Jose, California.
Camden High School.
He played three seasons in the National Basketball Association (National Basketball Association) with the Golden State Warriors and the Indiana Pacers. Parks played college basketball with the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins, earning all-conference honors in the Pacific-8 (known later as the Pac-12). He was selected by the Warriors in the first round of the 1978 National Basketball Association draft with the 22nd overall pick, and became the first Filipino-American to play in the National Basketball Association.
He is half-Filipino.
Townsend"s mother, the former Virginia Marella, is a Filipina from Balayan, Batangas while his father, Ray Senior, is American.
A 6"3", 175-lb point guard, Townsend attended Camden High School and Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California before playing college basketball at University of California, Los Los Angeles As a high school senior, he averaged close to 28 points a game for the Camden High Cougars. This was prior to the 3 point line being regulated years later.
He earned first-team All-Pac-8 honors as a senior in 1978. He was selected with the last pick in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1978 National Basketball Association Draft by the Golden State Warriors.
He was the first Filipino-American to play in the National Basketball Association. He also played in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1984-1985 season.
A 1976 Sports Illustrated issue featured Townsend"s father, Ray Senior, in its "Faces in the Crowd" section. He was recognized as "the oldest junior college basketball player in history." At age 39, he was the second man off the bench. Townsend, now a youth sports development coordinator in San Jose, California, was honored as University of California, Los Angeles Pilipino Alumni Association"s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year on May 2, 2009.
He was a member of the 1975 University of California, Los Angeles Basketball National Championship team, legendary coach John Wooden"s 10th and final National Collegiate Athletic Association championship team He concluded his National Basketball Association career in 1982 as a member of the Indiana Pacers.