Jeremy Lin to miss Kai Sotto encounter as G League Ignite face Warriors in opener

Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga to face veteran on February 10, but Philippines prospect will be with national team

Santa Cruz regular season finishes on March 6, but Lin could be called up by NBA team at any time

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Jeremy Lin in action for the Beijing Ducks in the 2019-20 Chinese Basketball Association. Lin starts the G League season for the Santa Cruz Warriors on February 10. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:29pm, 28 Jan 2021Updated: 12:28pm, 28 Jan 2021

NBA veteran Jeremy Lin will face the stars of the future on the opening night of the G League season on February 10 when Lin’s Santa Cruz Warriors face the G League Ignite development squad.

While nine-year NBA veteran Lin is looking for one last hurrah in the league where he shot to global superstardom at the New York Knicks in the “Linsanity” period of 2012, the Ignite team is made up of players at the start of their careers.

Those include predicted top five NBA lottery prospects Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green, who will start life in the Disneyworld bubble against Lin and Golden State’s Nico Mannion on the G League Warriors. Lin knows all about them having trained with the Ignite team in preseason before signing for Santa Cruz.

One player missing though is Philippines prospect Kai Sotto after the 18-year-old told the Ignite that he would miss the start of the season to join up with the national team for their FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

The Gilas Pilipinas were meant to play the third window of games in Clark but that has been cancelled with FIBA yet to announce a new host city.

Sotto will join up with the Ignite at the G League bubble at Disneyworld later in the season.