By CARLO ANOLIN
Kai Sotto and Team Ignite are reportedly set for their NBA G League debut in February next year under a bubble format amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Per sources of The Athletic’s Shams Charania, organizers are mulling to kick off the NBA G League on Feb. 8 at the Disney campus in Orlando, Florida, the same venue of the successful and COVID-19 free NBA bubble a few months ago.
Eighteen teams are set to arrive in Orlando on Jan. 26 and expected to suit up of for a 12 to 15 game schedule while the playoffs will be from March 5 to 9 but all tentative dates are still subject to change.
The G League draft, meanwhile, is set on Jan. 11.
Aside from Team Ignite, the Ague Caliente (Clippers), the Austin Spurs, the Canton Charge (Cavaliers), the Delaware Blue Coats (76ers), the Erie BayHawks Pelicans (Wizards), the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers), the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets), the Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves), the Lakeland Magic, the Long Island Nets, the Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies), the Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder);
The Raptors 905, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets), the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz), the Sta. Cruz Warriors, and the Westchester Knicks will enter the NBA G League bubble.
Eleven franchises, however, opted not to send their G League counterparts for the 2020-21 season.
Joining the 7-foot-2 Sotto in Team Ignite are Filipino-American Jalen Green, Congolese Jonathan Kuminga, Americans Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd, and India’s Princepal Singh.
The NBA G League bubble, unfortunately, may coincide with the third leg of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers co-hosted by the Philippines in Clark, Pampanga.
This may put Sotto’s participation in the national men’s basketball team and his Gilas Pilipinas debut on hold.
