Tim Cone wants Kai Sotto playing for Gilas Pilipinas in the 20th Asian Games and in the upcoming FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Problem is, the 7-foot-3 big man might not be too keen on suiting up for the country—at least in the near future.
“Kai is still a question mark,” Cone admitted to Noli Eala in the latter’s Power & Play Podcast on Saturday. “We haven’t heard a firm no from them yet. We’re hoping to hear something from him sooner rather than later, but the door is still open for Kai to join us. The word we have right now is that his schedule is going to get very busy in August because he has some things in the United States in terms of joining teams there.”
Sotto is reportedly pursuing his NBA dreams again, with the latest avenue supposedly being collegiate ball in the US NCAA. Word is that Sotto and his camp are trying to exploit a rules loophole to acquire eligibility even though the big man is already 24 and has played professionally in Japan and Australia.
Kai Sotto Is Always Welcome, Says Cone
While Kai Sotto’s availability is increasingly becoming an issue, Cone doesn’t seem to mind at the moment. In fact, according to the veteran mentor, the big man will always be welcome to join Gilas Pilipinas.
“We’re not exactly clear exactly where Kai is at this point, but certainly the door is open. He is an absolute game changer for us. So, basically, the door will always be open for him,” stressed Cone, who sounded like a father hoping for his prodigal son to return.
Curiously, Kai Sotto was supposedly aiming for an NBA Summer League stint back in July, which caused him to miss the Philippines’ third window games in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Apparently, however, Kaiju was back in the country all this time.
Now, it’s looking like he will be missing national team duties again—that is, unless he changes his mind.
