After helping the Adelaide 36ers become the first team from the National Basketball League to defeat an NBA team when they knocked off the Phoenix Suns, Kai Sotto is now making a name in Japan B. League.
Sotto, who signed with Hiroshima Dragonflies last month, made his debut last Wednesday against Ryukyu Golden Kings but he was given a rude welcome at Okinawa Arena wherein the kings beat the dragonflies with a score of 86-78.
In his debut, the homegrown Filipino NBA aspirant showed that he can make scores in wherever league he will go. In his 19 minutes as a starter, Sotto marked his debut with 10 points, 3 blocks, 2 boards, and 1 steal, but it did not help the Dragonflies grab the win against the Kings.
On the other hand, many Filipino basketball fans were dismayed when Carl Tamayo, the Pinoy import of the Kings, was just sitting on the bench the entire game.
Tamayo made his debut with Ryukyu last week in the East Asia Super League Champions Week in Japan wherein he showed flashes of his potential, putting up 13 points in the team’s second game, an 83-78 home win over the Taipei Fubon Braves.
Since high school, the careers of Sotto and Tamayo have intertwined. In 2018, Sotto led the Ateneo de Manila High School to a UAAP Basketball Championship title juniors division and was named as the finals MVP after averaging 17 points, 13 rebounds and 6.3 blocks per game in three games. However, on the following year, Tamayo reintroduced himself into UAAP juniors basketball in emphatic fashion by being one of the cornerstones of the National University (NU) Bullpups’ title run in Season 81 by dethroning the Ateneo Blue Eagles via a 64-53 Game 2 victory with Tamayo earning the finals MVP honors with an average of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
In the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, Sotto, and Tamayo anchored the Philippine youth team to a spot. Also, the two teamed up for Gilas Pilipinas under coach Tab Baldwin in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark and in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade in 2021.
Now that the path of the two Filipino basketball stars has crossed again, Filipino fans are excited to see who among the two will climb the ladder and conquer the Japan Professional League.
As of now, the Golden Kings improved to a 30-9 record to solidify their grip on the fourth spot, while keeping the Dragonflies below them at 28-11.