IGNITE coach Brian Shaw said he has no problem with Kai Sotto's desire to play for Gilas Pilipinas, although he's realistic enough to acknowledge that the 18-year-old center may miss the NBA G League bubble altogether.
In a media conference on Thursday morning (Manila time), the veteran coach expressed the select team's full support for Sotto in his desire to represent the Philippines and vowed Team Ignite won't hold him back.
"One of the things, before these guys entered the program, was that we're not going to hold anybody back," as reported by Alder Almo of the Philippine Star.
"We committed to our players who wanted to represent their country in that fashion. So that was a decision that Kai and his team wanted and thought it's important for him. So we supported him in going to be part of that."
That move, however, comes with a cost, with Shaw pointing out that the stint with Gilas in the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers could also mean Sotto may not make it in time for the NBA G League bubble in Orlando.
"Unfortunately, a lot of it is during the time we're going to be in the bubble. And so we just wish him the best. We worked with him up until the point that he left. And hopefully, he’ll be able to go there and perform well," he said.
The NBA G League has already released its full schedule, with the first game pitting Ignite against the Jeremy Lin-led Santa Cruz Warriors set on Feb. 10.
The regular season will last until March 6, with the single-elimination playoff to begin on March 8 and the Final set on March 11.
Meanwhile, the third window is scheduled in the third week of February, with Gilas taking on Korea on Feb. 18 and 22 and Indonesia on Feb. 20.
Fiba has yet to determine the new venue for the said games after the cancellation of the Clark bubble due to the country's travel restrictions in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's a precarious schedule Sotto and Ignite are working with, one that has left Shaw wondering if the 7-foot-3 center would even make it in time to play for the team.
"Depending on the timing of everything, especially because he’s traveling internationally, the quarantine time could be a lot longer," he said.
"So we don’t know how that’s going to play out when all is said and done in terms of him coming back and joining our team or not. But we want him to do well in those competitions, and if the timing and everything when he comes back, we’ll see what happens."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph