The young Filipino prospect, Kai Sotto, goes undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Neither of the 30 teams selected Sotto during the draft and his name was never called upon by NBA’s commissioner, Adam Silver.
Because the 7-foot-3 big man was not drafted, Sotto is automatically now an unrestricted free agent.
“I can’t really explain the feeling but it’s not a good feeling. I really worked hard and did my best to get here,” Sotto said.
“But it’s what happened. God has better plans for me and I won’t stop,” the big man added.
Even though Sotto is undrafted, he can still impress coaches and scouts in the NBA Summer League this upcoming July to keep his hopes alive of playing in the NBA as the first Filipino homegrown player.
However, he and his companions decided that he is not going to play for any team during the Summer League even though Sotto has a couple of invites in the said league. Instead, Sotto will be playing for Gilas according to Joel Bell, his agent.
“I’ve already got several Summer league invites for him. But Kai has decided to play for the Filipino national team,” Bell said.
“That’s his commitment and he’s very dedicated towards Filipino things, Filipino pride, Filipino activities. He’s gonna pass up the Summer league and play with the Philippine national team,” the agent added.
Sotto clarified in a tweet that Bell misspoke and that there was no decision made regarding playing in the Summer League.
“I also want to clarify that no decision has been made about me not playing in the summer league. My agent misspoke,” he stated in a Twitter post.
The former Ateneo star showed his gratitude to his supporters despite not being selected in the recent NBA Draft. Sotto promised that he is not going to stop chasing his ultimate dream which is going to play in the NBA.
“Thank you to everyone for your support and kind words tonight, I won’t stop pursuing the dream of being in the NBA… This is not the end,” Sotto said.