CHICAGO - After months of anticipation, a protracted wait that led to much speculation about his future in the Japan B.League, Kai Sotto is about to go back to the grind.
The 7-foot-3 center will make his season debut tomorrow (Saturday, Manila time) when his new team, the Yokohama B-Corsairs, host the SeaHorses Mikawa.
READ Kai Sotto 'ready to play' as loan move to Yokohama finalized
Following an impressive 19-minute turn where he scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds to help Gilas spank China, 96-75, in the FIBA World Cup 2023 last September 2, it's been 117 days since he saw action.
Given the long layoff, Sotto is unlikely to start. But he is expected to contribute heavily to a 10-14 team that will have their hands full against the 16-8 SeaHorses.
"It's a big opportunity for him." said Tony Ronzone, the Wasserman Sports executive who has been carefully plotting the direction of Kai's pro career.
He had a "long and proper rest," Ronzone added, emphasizing that a player's return from injury should not be rushed.
After he was loaned from Hiroshima to Yokohama, Kai was penciled to play in back-to-back road games last December 23 and 24 against the Saga Ballooners.
Unfortunately, a delay got in the way.
PAPER TRAIL
In order for his transfer to Yokohama to be finalized, Sotto needed paperwork from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
Explaining in layman's terms the legal thicket surrounding the process, a prominent Filipino star in the B.League said that if a player transfers to another ballclub, "the OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Association) needs to know the details."
Pending that official paperwork, Kai couldn't play even though he had already passed the medicals with flying colors.
With the medical and procedural obstacles safely out of the way, Kai can now rededicate all his time and effort to playing basketball.
How he performs in Yokohama, assuming he is given high usage and is allowed to operate in a system that suits his skill set, will shape the direction of his career moving forward.
Efficiency. Endurance. Defensive mettle. Quickness. Speed. Strength.
How he checks those boxes will be crucial.
Because bigs are inherently slow to develop - geewiz, humans are not supposed to grow like trees - 7-footers such as Kai are usually given more time to get comfortable in their bodies before blossoming.
But while time can be slow and patient, it's also fickle. The sands in the hourglass wait for one.
Kai turns 22 this May. The time to shine is now.
REMEMBERING A LEGEND. If you are a fan of the recently departed Samboy Lim, you need to read this piece (Why Samboy Lim is the quintessential basketball hero of our time) to fully appreciate him.
Rare indeed is an athlete who can defy gravity and yet keep his feet on the ground.
Like many of you out there, I was a huge fan of Samboy growing up.
Calling Samboy a basketball player is like calling the Pope a priest. Lim was a performer, an artist who used the hardwood as the canvas with which he painted his aerial masterpieces.
They say the good ones are always taken away from Earth way too early.
I dunno. But if heaven is a playground maybe God needed a versatile wing.
Rest in peace, idol.
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