LAS VEGAS – I'm not into doomsday scenarios. I choose to live in a world painted with the colors of joy and happiness.
Which is why I'm not yet giving up on the NBA dream of Kai Sotto.
But after two DNPs, I must admit, my knuckles are beginning to turn white from clinging on to hope.
Is tomorrow (8 a.m., Manila time) the day Kai finally gets off the bench when the Orlando Magic square off with the New York Knicks?
Head coach Dylan Murphy told me on Tuesday that he and his staff are constantly communicating with Sotto and that the 7-foot-3 center is given a heads up on whether he plays or sits.
Murphy insists that he is impressed with Kai's work ethic and attitude in the face of overwhelming pressure from the rabid fan base of a basketball hotbed such as the Philippines.
I just wish he'd offer something more tangible: Precious playing time.
THE FACT THAT MURPHY STILL HASN'T CALLED KAI SOTTO'S NUMBER SCARES ME A BIT.
Here's why.
Before he was named as the head coach of both the Magic's G league and Summer League teams last June 28, Murphy worked as a basketball operations analyst for Orlando where his job entailed providing analytics support to the coaching staff.
In other words, he is a metrics guy. Rigid and beholden to the notion that math is an exact science.
Maybe this explains his reluctance to employ Sotto, who isn't known for his 3-point shooting, a skill required from bigs in the modern NBA where positions have become stale as yesterday's bread.
But Sotto offers a lot to the table, too. Shot-blocking, setting picks, passing and operating in the low post where he can suck the opposing defense and make Orlando's outside shooters open.
"Everyone will get an opportunity" is the coaches' mantra in the Summer League.
And that includes Kai. Unfortunately, his turn hasn't come yet and time is running out.
Much as I respect a coaches' prerogative I also wonder why Orlando even bothered to bring in Kai if they aren't playing him.
If the goal is to give the kid a chance to show what he can do in front of the league's scout's and executives, the purpose is defeated as he continues to sit on the bench.
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