MANILA, Philippines — Many basketball fans are excited to see Filipino sensation Kai Sotto and his teammates compete in the upcoming NBA G League season as Team Ignite.
Among those looking forward to seeing Sotto, Filipino-American Jalen Green and the rest of Team Ignite is none other than NBA Deputy Commissioner himself Mark Tatum.
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Tatum recently went on NBA Philippines' Republika Huddle and talked about Sotto, Green and the NBA G League professional pathway.
"The G League is doing such an incredible job, [commissioner] Shareef Abdul-Rahim and his whole team have been wonderful at innovating and creating this new team Ignite," Tatum said.
"This opportunity for players like Kai, who by the way I had the chance to see him at Basketball Without Borders this year... [is] just so great to see him now playing in our G League for Team Ignite," he added.
The basketball executive raved about the G League professional pathway, expecting Sotto and Green to receive "world-class" preparation in their quest toward their NBA dream.
"When we got Jalen we were so thrilled... He saw the opportunity to come in and get trained by NBA G League coaches and being coached now along with Kai and the rest of their teammates with Brian Shaw," Tatum said.
"They're preparing to enter the NBA and what Shareef and the G League have been able to do with this team is create this pathway that says 'Hey, we're gonna get you world-class coaching, world-class strength training, physical training, mental preparation to become the best NBA player that you can be,'," he added.
Team Ignite, currently comprised of Sotto, Green, and other top prospeects like Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix, Isaiah Todd and Princepal Singh, is not affiliated with any NBA team and will primarily focus on developing their skills to eventually move up to the NBA.
Sotto and the rest of his teammates are already in Walnut Creek, California to prepare for the upcoming NBA G League season.