Kai Sotto's NBA dream has never been more tangible and reachable.
The next phase of the towering center's journey is in full motion as the NBA G League Ignite is set to begin its season in February. Sotto, who is hoping to become the first Filipino to ever play in the world's premier basketball league, has been training under the special developmental program of the G League for the past six months.
Ignite faced off against G League veterans back in December at Walnut Creek, California in preparation for their upcoming season. The veterans won the first scrimmage, 113-107, where Sotto had five points alongside five rebounds and two blocks. In the second bout, the veterans breezed through a 125-99 decision. Sotto tallied six points, including 4-of-4 from the free throw line, six boards, and one rejection in a losing effort. Those are quiet numbers but certainly not hollow as the exposure given to Sotto and the young standouts should already be noteworthy.
Without a doubt, there is already a lot of attention surrounding the new exploratory program that Sotto is a part of together with other elite prospects as they all undergo this unique route towards the NBA. The G League has long been an avenue for aspiring players to make it into the big league, but the Ignite represents a different approach outside of the NBA's traditional talent pipeline. A first-of-its-kind, it is a professional pathway apart from the 28 existing G League teams. Ignite, which was also made as an alternative to college basketball, will be developed under the watchful eyes of NBA veterans and coaches.
And Sotto, an 18-year-old kid from Las Piñas, Philippines, is one of the few players given this rare opportunity to be part of Ignite. Only five other youngsters are included in the program namely Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd, Daishen Nix, and Princepal Singh - all of which are top high school standouts.
Listed officially as 7-foot-2, 236 pounds, Sotto is a big man who can actively compete in the paint. He has a soft touch in the shaded area and respectable range from the outside. As all prospects are, he is a work in progress with a ton of untapped potential.
"I think it's been good… it’s been a little tough. There are some adjustments playing against pros for the first time, it's not that easy for me and for other players,” Sotto said in a media availability session last December. “Completely new experience in those scrimmages."
There’s certainly an acclimatization period for the young center but he’s soaking in the experience of competing at a high level.
"I think the biggest difference is there's so much room to learn every single day being with such great players and coaches,” Sotto shared. "Every day I try to learn a lot 'cause the coaches have been through a lot as NBA players and as coaches.”
Ignite head coach Brian Shaw is at the forefront of the development of Sotto and the other prospects and he carries with him nearly 30 years of NBA experience both as a player and as a coach. A significant role player in the historic 3-peat Los Angeles Lakers team in the early 2000s, Shaw also became a part of the 2009-2010 title squads as an assistant coach. In Ignite, he is flanked by lead assistant Rasheed Hazzard, player development coach Chris Farr, and performance coach Ernest DeLosAngeles.
"I think I've gotten much better offensively. Coach Shaw helped me improve, (and) be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Sotto said. "There are things that I'm not really good at, spots I need to improve on more and they helped me get used to it. When I go to the next level, those are things pros will try to expose."
It is also serendipitous that Sotto patterns his game after Pau Gasol, the starting center of the back-to-back championship team that Shaw was an assistant of. Although there have been comparisons to Dallas Mavericks’ Kristaps Porzingis, Sotto said he sees himself in the former Lakers star.
"I think there's a little similarity with Kris with height and size but he's a lot more different because he's more athletic, a better 3-point shooter,” Sotto pointed out. "I’m like Pau Gasol who's more all-around, can score, pass, defend, dribble, and shoot. He's a player that I watch with Rasheed and Shaw. We've been watching clips of him in Lakers and Bulls before how they play and execute (the) triangle (offense).”
With the game evolving into big men being more athletic and doing multiple things on the court, Sotto certainly has the build to become an all-around center. As he continues to adapt his game, there has also been an equivalent adjustment to his new life in the United States as well.
When Sotto left for Atlanta to begin his training and to pursue his professional career, he was straight out of high school and was just about to turn 17. In a basketball-obsessed country like the Philippines, there was already enormous pressure for him to succeed and make it into the NBA even at such a tender age. Fortunately, he is growing into a young man focusing on what’s important for him.
"It's a little harder coming out of HS to pro,” Sotto shared, also mentioning that he became smarter and more mature as a professional after spending more time with his coaches and teammates. "That's one of the commitments my family made. It's going to be hard as soon as I get here and I'm up for the challenge. It's gonna be tougher in the NBA so I better get used to it and get better each day."
Amid his steady growth with Ignite, Sotto will likely miss a huge chunk of the G League’s bubble season in Orlando due to his desire to play for the Philippine national team, Gilas Pilpinas.
Ignite will make its debut on February 10 as prospects Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga will take on Jeremy Lin and the Santa Cruz Warriors. The G League’s regular season will feature 18 teams battling it out until March 6. The top eight teams will then proceed to a single-elimination playoff on March 8, followed by the finals on March 11.
The G League’s month-long tournament will coincide with Gilas Pilipinas’ participation in the third window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. The Philippines will take on Korea on February 18 and 22 and Indonesia on the 20th.
“We commend our players for wanting to represent their countries in that fashion,” said coach Shaw, mentioning that they weren’t gonna hold any players back. “That was a decision that Kai and his team wanted, thought it was important for him. So we supported him in going to be part of that. Unfortunately, a lot of it is during the time [when] we're going to be in the bubble.
“And so we just wish him the best. We worked with him up until the point that he left. And hopefully, he’ll be able to go there and perform well.”
When Sotto does return with Ignite, he will be left to play in only a handful of games as the team wraps up the regular season with the hopes of entering the playoffs.
“Depending on the timing of everything, especially because he’s traveling internationally, the quarantine time could be a lot longer so we don’t know how that’s going to play out when all is said and done in terms of him coming back and joining our team or not,” continued Shaw. “But we want him to do well in those competitions, and if the timing and everything when he comes back, we’ll see what happens.”
Sotto’s climb as an NBA prospect has been steady and patient. He is continuing to work on his game that has already grown by leaps and bounds since he began training to pursue his dream more than a year ago. Now under the NBA G League’s select team, the path to capture his dream has been laid out in front of him.
"It's just the culture of the Philippines. Basketball is really big. Me being a homegrown Filipino, they support me,” Sotto said. "I’ll do my best to keep my feet on the ground and keep working ‘cause (at the) end of the day, once I reach my dream, it's also for them. It's not just Kai's dream, it's millions of Filipinos’ dream."
