KAI Sotto left for the US amid a social media blackout on Sunday night, turning his attention back to his NBA G League career after a bid to make his debut with the Gilas Pilipinas seniors team was aborted after a spate of postponements.
Officials from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) confirmed that the 18-year-old center left the country at 11 p.m. on Sunday, hoping to reunite with Ignite in Orlando, Florida where the NBA G League bubble is being held.
The 7-3 teenager left just as Ignite was about to begin its bubble training for the G League season to play for the Philippines in the third and final window of the qualifiers for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup set in Indonesia in August.
But with travel restrictions enforced all over the world amid a spike in cases of COVID-19, Sotto's return proved to be for naught as Clark's hosting of the bubble qualifiers, and later Qatar's pitch-in offer, were both cancelled.
Clark ended up hosting the games again. But amid the state of uncertainty, Sotto and his team decided it best to head back to the US.
The question is, what awaits Sotto in the G League?
While Sotto was away, Ignite started its campaign in the Orlando bubble of the G League, winning its first three games behind a talent-rich lineup of top NBA prospects led by Fil-American Jalen Green.
Sotto now hopes to catch up, but what he faces is a wall of uncertainty.
The Filipino prodigy will have to go through four days of isolation and needs to register four negative tests before he can even enter the bubble. There's also the task of reconnecting with the team and the system of coach Brian Shaw.
The earliest Sotto can play for Ignite will be on Monday (Manila time) against the Greensboro Swarm.
Under that time frame, he would've missed six Ignite games already. But he can make up for lost time and play a maximum nine games until the conclusion of the regular season - and three games at the most in the knockout-style playoffs.
The G League bubble is set to conclude on March 11.
But nothing is guaranteed for Sotto.
Shaw has by now leaned mostly on Isaiah Todd and Brandon Ashley as the select team's bigs in their first three games, with NBA veteran Amir Johnson playing spot minutes off the bench. Indian prospect Princepal Singh has yet to play a single game.
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