It looks like Gilas Pilipinas will have to accept one emerging reality: Kai Sotto probably might not be available anytime soon. And the reason, according to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) executive director Erika Dy, is that still-elusive NBA dream.
Yes, Kai Sotto is still chasing that NBA dream, and this chase is the reason he will likely be unavailable in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers here in the Philippines. This window marks the start of the second round of the qualifiers and will all but determine if the fifth and sixth windows will matter for Gilas Pilipinas.
“Kai has his NBA paths. When we talked to him, unfortunately, ‘yung Gilas wala pa dun sa pathway niya kasi pwedeng maapektuhan ‘yung mga plano nila moving towards the NBA…,” Dy explained in an interview with former PBA commissioner Noli Eala in his Power & Play podcast. “It really depends on what they [Sotto and his team] decide on with regards to that pathway. One of the pathways that they have explained to us will not allow him to play in that window…”
SBP Will Not Get Between Kai Sotto and His NBA Dream
Despite the fourth window’s make-or-break nature for Gilas Pilipinas’ World Cup hopes, Dy stressed that the SBP is not about to get in Kai Sotto’s way as he chases that NBA dream. On the contrary, the SBP would very much love for the 7-foot-3 big man to make it to the world’s premier league.
“Kami naman, we don’t want to get in the way of that [Sotto chasing the NBA dream]. Even if the national team is very important to SBP, it’s also important to us that we see the first Filipino ever to be in the NBA,” Dy stressed. “Kasama naman ‘yan sa mga goals natin sa SBP, na talagang magkaron tayo ng born-and-raised Filipino sa NBA. So, kami, su-support nalang namin ‘yung mga decisions ng kampo nila towards that pathway.”
Sotto, incidentally, has not played in these qualifiers. He missed the first two windows after sustaining an ACL injury. Then, he skipped the recently held third window—where Gilas lost a heartbreaker to New Zealand and got thrashed by Australia—supposedly because he was chasing opportunities to play in the NBA Summer League (even though it turned out that he was just here in the Philippines all this time).
Now, the reality is starting to become crystal clear—the NBA dream comes first for Kai Sotto. At least as of this moment.
