MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:38 p.m.) — Kai Sotto remains undeterred after going unselected in the 2022 NBA Draft on Thursday (Friday, Manila time) in New York City.
Sotto, 20, missed the cut among the 58 prospects drafted by teams. But the Ateneo High School product knows there are many more roads that lead to the NBA.
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"The dream is always the NBA. I'll do whatever it takes to get better, to get stronger, to improve," Sotto said in an interview with News5 after the draft.
"This is just a speed bump. We didn't get the Plan A but we got a plan B and it's not gonna stop me," he added.
In the same interview, Sotto's agent Joel Bell said that he will be passing on a possible NBA Summer League stint to join Gilas Pilipinas in the coming month.
Gilas will be playing the FIBA Asia Cup in Indonesia in July. The Nationals are also playing two games in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers on June 30 and July 3.
This was later clarified by Sotto that it the plans were not set in stone and Bell had "misspoke".
Bell also confirmed to Philstar.com that plans include a return to Australia in the NBL or a possible stint in Europe.
Though definitely a setback to his mission to become the first-ever homegrown Filipino talent in the NBA, Sotto says he is far from giving up.
"This is not a signal fo rme to stop, but for me to keep on going," he said.