A giant Filipino basketball prospect is aiming to become the next big thing in the Unted States - literally.
Kai Sotto has decided to bypass US college basketball and sign with a development G-League team for next season.
The 18-year-old centre already stands 7ft, 2ins tall and has signed with a new G-League team that is unaffiliated with any NBA franchise. The new club does not have a name yet.
Sotto joins other high school recruits Jalen Green, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix on the new team.
Sotto is trying to become the first home-grown Filipino player drafted in the NBA. Green grew up in the US but can trace his routes to the Philippines.
Sotto, who turned 18 on Monday, spent this past season at a development academy in Atlanta. He is eligible for the 2021 NBA entry draft.
Raymond Townsend, who played for the Golden State Warriors in the 1980s, was the first player with Philippine heritage to play in the NBA.
The son of basketball player Ervin Sotto, Kai excelled in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) juniors division with Ateneo de Manila High School in Quezon City, before moving to The Skill Factory in Atlanta, Georgia.
