Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes dropped the truth bomb on Kai Sotto, who has yet to join the national team’s practice.
Reyes said in an interview with CNN on Thursday that Sotto is the remaining variable that the national team needs to take care of for its World Cup preparations.
“Well, that’s the lone remaining variable now that the Jordan Clarkson variable has been taken care of; now it’s the Kai Sotto variable,” Reyes said in the interview, as reported by Tiebreaker Times.
Sotto’s camp claimed that he is still nursing a back injury, which he sustained during his stint in the NBA Summer League. However, Reyes revealed that their team doctor checked on Sotto and “did not find anything wrong.”
In the interview, Reyes compared Sotto to Clarkson, as both of them have yet to join the national team’s practice.
“My worry with Kai is unlike Jordan, who is an NBA player, a very established 20-point scorer in the league, Kai is not, just to be very honest about it,” the multi-titled coach said.
“And I think he will need more time with us, especially in the strength and conditioning part. If he wants to be a big part of the team, he has to come in as soon as possible. We are planning to play him a lot in the China pocket tournament, but he has to earn those minutes. If he is not in practice, he might not even play in China,” Reyes continued.
(MJD)
