All basketball eyes will be on the National Basketball Association (NBA) G League’s “Team Ignite” as to how they will ignite the hardwood floor next month.
Together with 17 other teams, Team Ignite, composed of stellar NBA prospects that include the Philippines’ very own 7-footer Kai Sotto and Fil-Am standout Jalen Green, will see action during the National Basketball Association Minor League tournament in February.
The team will be officially unveiled as they make their debut at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
Just like the regular NBA tournament, the G League will also be played under a “bubble” format.
Other members of Team Ignite, coached by five-time NBA champion Brian Shaw, include standouts Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd, Daishen Nix, and Princepal Singh. The team has been training closely under Shaw in Walnut Creek, California for several months now.
Perhaps the basketball world’s eyes, mostly of Filipinos, will be on Sotto, who is hoping to become the first home-grown, full-blooded Filipino to play in the NBA.
Coming from a country where basketball is a national religion, Sotto will definitely feel the weight of an entire nation’s hopes of seeing a Filipino make it to the world’s grandest basketball stage.