At 50 years young, PBA legend Asi Taulava has become Philippine basketball’s resident sage. And, when he was asked by Noli Eala in Radyo5’s Power and Play what advice he would give to young Kai Sotto, The Rock didn’t hold back.
His first order of business for the 7-foot-3 big man? Tune out the noise.
“Ignore everybody, Kai,” Taulava said. “The choices you make as a basketball player, you’re the only one who’s gonna live with it. Just make sure you listen to your mom, you dad, pray about it, and if you’re happy with the decisions you make at the end of the day, then that’s fine.”
Turns out, Taulava was just getting started, as he also gave Sotto contingencies in case his NBA dream does not materialize.
“There’s nothing you have to prove to anybody,” the Fil-Tongan center continued. “We all want you to make the NBA, but if you fall short, you still have the B.League, you have Japan [and other potential destinations]. These countries are still gonna pay you. We’ll still want to watch you and you’ll still have followers.”
Taulava has a point. For all of Sotto’s talents and physical gifts, making the NBA is definitely not guaranteed. Even so, he will surely find a home in other leagues, like the Japan B.League, where he is still under contract with the Hiroshima Dragonflies.
Then again, Taulava knows all too well that even the best laid-out plans might turn out poorly in the end. And in that case, the veteran big man offered up an interesting fallback just to be sure.
“If worse comes to worst, you’ve got the PBA, and this is all yours—and you will own it,” Taulava added.
Of course, at the age of 21, it is imperative that Sotto keeps looking forward. And Taulava is imploring him to do just that.
“Keep playing, chase your dream,” Taulava concluded. Don’t ever give up and just keep fighting. Enjoy the journey.”
It has been quite the journey already for Kaiju. It appears it will only get more interesting moving forward.