Philippines NBA prospect Kai Sotto skips college for G League: reports
- The 7’2” centre turned 18 on Monday and reportedly signed for NBA’s development league ahead of 2021 draft
- Sotto, who has been training in US since last April, has stated his desire to become first fully-Filipino NBA player
Philippines basketball hope Kai Sotto has decided to skip college to sign for the NBA’s G League, according to reports on Monday.
Sotto will become the G League’s first international player, according to journalist Shams Charania of The Athletic website.
The centre, who turned 18 on Monday, is being heralded as potentially becoming the first fully-Filipino NBA player and he took a step closer to his dream on Monday by signing for the development league.
“There hasn't been any full-blooded Filipino that has been to the NBA and I just want to be the first one and I just want to show everyone that we can also make it,” Sotto told Bleacher Report in a mini-documentary earlier this year.
It is a move that ESPN said could be worth more US$500,000 over a one-year deal and allows his development outside the regular G League structure, as part of a new initiative to stop NBA draft prospects heading to Australia’s National Basketball League.