Kobe Paras defended Kai Sotto from criticisms surrounding his decision to skip the NBA G-League bubble for a now-aborted stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Sotto and his handlers at East West Private are under fire for a series of moves that has put the 7-foot-3’s stint with the G-League Ignite in doubt.
But Paras, who himself had a US stint for Creighton University, took to Twitter to lambast those critical of the 18-year-old.
“I will not tolerate any Kai Sotto slander,” he said. “Instead of talking bad about him and his handlers, why not wait for the final word?
“Why not just support him and his dream no matter what? Most of (you all) opinions don’t matter. My guy is 18! How foolish (you all) look talking bad about a teen,” added the University of the Philippines star and Gilas Pilipinas pool member.
Sotto opted to play for Gilas instead of joining the Ignite for the G-League bubble in Florida. He arrived earlier this month and underwent a mandatory quarantine.
But while in quarantine, FIBA decided to initially cancel the third window slated in Doha, Qatar due to a spike in COVID-19 cases before announcing that Clark, Pampanga will again host the qualifiers on a still undetermined date.
That prompted Sotto to opt out of the Gilas stint and went back to the US in hopes to entering the G-League bubble as soon as possible.
There’s still no word if Sotto will take part in the bubble, which could jeopardize his bid to become the first homegrown Filipino to play in the NBA.