EUROPE STILL BEST WAY TO GO FOR KAI SOTTO AFTER PARTING WAY FROM IGNITE
The raging debate on Kai Sotto’s future after parting ways with Ignite now focuses in Europe. Sotto’s situation has been the talk of the town, with one side feeling that he should’ve stayed in the United States and focus on his campaign with Ignite in the NBA G League bubble, while the other championing his dedication to the Gilas Pilipinas program.
The 7-foot-3 center chose to head back to the Philippines to play for Gilas in the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers, but with the Doha bubble being cancelled and once again re-scheduled for Clark, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) decided that it’s for the better of Sotto to head back to the US.
Four clubs, namely Spanish teams Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Baskonia, and German squad Alba Berlin lobbied their offer for the promising Sotto way back in year 2019.
Those offers, however, were shunned as Sotto explored his options in US colleges.
In an instant, Kai Sotto, the Philippines’ best chance to have a homegrown talent to be drafted in the NBA, has seemingly squandered his golden ticket after his G League team Ignite dropped him late Tuesday night.
It was stunning news, a dagger to the heart of the basketball-loving country whose hopes were suddenly vanished, the same way the 7-foot-3 wunderkind has curiously disappeared from the map as his usually active social media accounts went dark for more than a week now.
The 18-year-old Sotto was recently in the center of controversy following his short-lived return to Gilas Pilipinas smack dab in the middle of G League preparations.
Ignite head coach Brian Shaw admitted that he was initially surprised with the move, but nonetheless supported his ward in his national team duties.
Although Sotto and his camp had a quick return to the US following the postponement of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup third qualifying window, there was no further update of him attempting to enter the G League bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Shaw has cryptically said prior to Sotto’s flight back that his spot in the rotation was up to people “above his pay grade.”
This abruptly stalls what looked like a promising rise for the country’s prized prospect following more than a year of dedicated training in Atlanta, Georgia.