Another champion coach has nothing but a positive outlook for Kaiju.
Filipino center Kai Sotto has a shot at making it to the NBA. All he needs is the right opportunity, if three-time NBA champion assistant coach Phil Handy has anything to say about it.
"He’s naturally gifted. He spent some time down in Australia, and that really helped develop his game," Handy said in a Philstar.com report. "I’ve had a chance to see him play for a couple of years."
However, the tactician who has worked for player development with the Los Angeles Lakers is not putting any pressure on Sotto to make it immediately.
"I believe he's very talented. I don't believe in putting timelines on athletes," Handy said. "It could be this summer, it could be next year. It really just depends on the opportunity."
Sotto went undrafted in last year's NBA draft, but he's determined to try again, joining mini-camps organized by the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, and the New York Knicks.
Handy is also familiar with the Australian basketball scene, having played in the National Basketball League, where Sotto competed with the Adelaide 36ers. The 7-foot-3 big man has since moved to the Japan B.League for the Hiroshima Dragonflies.
The champion coach though believes skill or size are not the issues for Philippine-born athletes to break into the NBA—but time and opportunity.
"Every Filipino I’ve known on the basketball court has had a lot of heart. It’s embedded in this culture, so size doesn’t really matter," he said.
Handy is in the Philippines to hold basketball clinics with local teams and coaches. He has won NBA titles with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Filipinos have always had skill, always had speed and again, just the fearlessness. Size is just a physical thing. It’s just a matter of time."
(GM)