MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) – I count myself as a balanced basketball observer, but on this day, I'll be unabashedly biased and say that Kai Sotto is the future of Asian basketball.

Yes, do a double-take on that one. It's no typo. The Philippines' very own 7ft 2in (2.18m) - with shoes, but, yes he is still growing - 16-year-old wunderkind is, in my view, the future face not just of Philippine basketball but Asian hoops as well.

To prove my point, I'll look back at Kai Sotto's 2018, which was undoubtedly his biggest basketball year yet - a year where he made waves in and around Asia as well as in the global basketball landscape.

FIBA U16 Asia 2018 in Foshan, China

 
Stats: 16.8ppg, 13.5rpg, 2.5bpg
Sotto was one of the most anticipated players in Foshan, owing to so much hype from his performance at the SEABA U16 Championship 2017 and to his sheer size. Many projected him to be a dominant presence, and, for the most part, he was, averaging an impressive double-double line over 6 games. His best stretch was in the back-to-back games he played against Japan and China, where he tallied a total of 54 points, 42 rebounds and 9 blocked shots. He carried the Filipinos to a pivotal win over Japan that sent them to the U17 World Cup and then followed that up with a head-turning performance against China, which, on paper, supposedly had the size to slow Sotto down. This was an important competition because it was Sotto's big-time debut at the continental level, where he is expected to reign supreme for years to come.

FIBA U17 World Cup 2018 in Rosario and Santa Fe, Argentina

 
Stats: 16.4ppg, 10.6rpg, 2.3bpg
I was fortunate enough to join Sotto and the rest of the Batang Gilas U17 national team in Argentina, and it was an absolutely splendid experience getting to witness the team's growth first-hand. Unsurprisingly, Sotto drew a ton of attention. Even before touching down on Argentine soil, he already attracted a lot of onlookers. I remember meeting a number of tourists at the Dubai International Airport who wanted to take photos alongside Sotto despite not really knowing who he was. That's what being a 7-footer will do, I suppose!

Once the U17 World Cup started, Sotto made an indelible impact against some of the best and brightest stars of his generation. He held his own against Croatia and was instrumental as the Philippines came oh-so-close to beating hosts Argentina. His best outings, however, were in the final two contests, which the Filipinos ended up winning to finish at an all-time high of 13th place. They beat Egypt and New Zealand to finish their campaign on a strong note.

The Argentina trip as tremendous because aside from playing against elite level on-court competition, Sotto was able to to meet and establish connections with people who could help him more directly break into the global basketball landscape. The ripples of all that networking are already being felt and tangible results may be seen as early as next year.

FIBA U18 Asia Championship 2018 in Nonthaburi, Thailand

 
Stats: 12.7ppg, 8.7rpg, 1.5bpg
By this time, Sotto had already made a name for himself as a potential future superstar for the Philippines, and his pairing with another Filipino rising star, 6ft 11in (2.10m) Ariel John Edu, made Philippines basketball fans salivate at the prospects of a sublime twin tower combination. Needless to say, both Edu and Sotto delivered the goods, with the Philippines punching yet another set of tickets to the world stage. With the Edu-Sotto pairing leading from the the front, the Batang Gilas U18 squad finished among the top 4 U18 Asia teams and qualified to next year's FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece.

Sotto wasn't as dominant as he was in Foshan and Argentina, but he still made his presence felt, putting up double-doubles in 4 of their 6 assignments. And to think Sotto will also still be eligible for the 2020 edition of the U18 Asia Championship! By then, he's sure to be virtually unstoppable.

Team Pilipinas

 
Owing to his size and recent performances, Sotto was quickly named by no less than senior national team head coach Yeng Guiao to the Team Pilipinas pool for the year's final Asian Qualifiers window. This was a strong message, since no Filipino youth player had ever been part of the senior national pool in recent times. Now, though Sotto didn't make it to the final roster of the national team's games against Kazakhstan and Iran, he still gained valuable experience training alongside the likes of June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger and Greg Slaughter. Sotto is expected to remain in the senior pool for the February window and, should Team Pilipinas succeed in qualifying to the World Cup, Sotto is also projected to be part of that final squad.

High School Hoops

 
Current stats: 25.3ppg, 12.7rpg, 3.3bpg, 62.1 FG%
To say Sotto has dominated Philippine high school hoops is pretty much an understatement. Early in 2018, he was named Finals MVP as his high school team - Ateneo de Manila - won the country's most prestigious high school basketball title. In the current season of the same tournament, Sotto has been a man among boys, routinely posting double-doubles and dominating foes left and right. His team continue to be among the title contenders this season, and as one of his coaches on that team, I can attest the growth in his game and his maturity. He has gradually assimilated the role of being the team's leader, and that bodes well for his future.

Going abroad?

After coming back from the U17 World Cup in Argentina, local media were quick to pounce on a rumor that Sotto had received a substantial offer to pack his bags, go to Spain and suit up for Real Madrid's youth team. Though these claims have never been proven to be iron-clad truth, the "pull" of going abroad to either Europe or the United States remains a strong if not likely option for Sotto. No other Filipino prospect - not Kiefer Ravena, not Ray Parks, Jr., not even Kobe Paras - has received this much attention from every corner of the global basketball community, and it stands to reason that Sotto would be able to maximize this window of opportunity in one way or another.

Asia, NBA and Beyond

Right now, the Philippines has been Sotto's oyster, and pretty soon, Asia will be his playground. If he continues to get better, a number of experts project him to be a tantalizing prospect for the NBA Draft as soon as 2021. That may yet be far-fetched, but with Sotto's work ethic, high basketball IQ and innate talent, his conquering not just Asia but the NBA and whatever else after that is not just a pipe dream.

By my calculations, Sotto has the potential to perhaps one day make the same impact on the NBA and international basketball as Yao Ming did in the early-to-mid 2000s. And just as gargantuan as Yao's presence was when China hosted the Olympics in 2008, Sotto can have a huge impact, too, when the Philippines host the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Sotto, along with Japanese phenom Rui Hachimura, can serve as one of the prime ambassadors of Asian hoops to the world.

Kai Sotto - so young and raw but already brimming with amazing potential. In his hands, he holds not just the future of Philippine basketball. Truth be told, if he plays his cards right, he could be the face of Asian basketball for the foreseeable future.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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