Green supports Sotto’s NBA dream

Three-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Danny Green supports Kai Sotto’s decision to return to the United States and play for Division I of the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The 38-year-old Green said with Sotto’s 7-foot-3 frame and with NBA scouts in attendance during NCAA games, he would increase his chances of becoming the first Filipino to play in the biggest and most prestigious basketball league in the world.

After getting undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, Sotto played in Australia and Japan while fulfilling his Gilas Pilipinas duty. He, however, skipped the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers recently as he prepares his return to the United States to play in the NCAA.

“Sure. I mean, I’m sure somebody’s advising him, but the best way to get looks is to be playing in the States,” Green said during a media availability even on Friday.

“If you’re going to Division I, you’ll get better NBA scouts to see you more often and then, of course, in college you can get paid a good amount of money just through the NIL (name, image and likeness), so it’s a win-win situation. But his height of 7-foot-3, you can’t teach that, so he has an advantage.”

Prior to declaring for the NBA Draft, Sotto was set to see action in the NCAA after drawing interests from elite programs like Kentucky, Georgia Tech, DePaul and Auburn.

He, however, pulled off a shocker when he brushed off college to sign with the NBA G League team Ignite, a program that offers a direct pathway to the NBA.

But the Covid pandemic threw a monkey wrench into his plan. Sotto went home and suited up for Gilas Pilipinas for the qualifiers of both the Asian Cup and the Tokyo Olympics before starting his professional career with the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball league in Australia.

Green, who worked his way up from being drafted with the 46th pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 up to winning three titles with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Toronto Raptors in 2019, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, stressed that Sotto should use his possible NCAA stint as a chance to get familiar with the American brand of basketball while improving on other facets of game.

“If he continues to work and builds some good habits, he could definitely find his way into the NBA,” the mild-mannered 38-year-old Green said.