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Brownlee believes Kai Sotto can play in the NBA

Sports | Basketball

Brownlee believes Kai Sotto can play in the NBA

By Reynald I. Magallon

At A Glance

Justin Brownlee has long been a believer of Gilas Pilipinas center Kai Sotto and his performance against New Zealand just proved him so.

Justin Brownlee has long been a believer of Gilas Pilipinas center Kai Sotto and his performance against New Zealand just proved him so.

KAI SOTTO_02.jpg — Justin Brownlee and Kai Sotto (Mark Balmores/ MB)

The 7-foot-3 bean pole continued to flourish as one of the focal points of Gilas' triangle offense, dropping his national team career-high of 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on top of two steals and two blocks in the Philippines' historic first win over New Zealand in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

Sotto's impressive performance along with the size and interior presence he's been providing just reaffirmed Brownlee's belief that the 22 year old is good enough to play in the NBA.

“Man, I’ve been saying it, I feel like he’s good enough to play in the NBA, in my opinion," Brownlee said of Sotto who went undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft.

"Of course he got the height, he got the size, and the skills but he’s been improving so much. For me, it’s just great to see a young player like him with so much potential.

Sotto has been a perfect complement to Brownlee as well as the Gilas naturalized player also poured in 26 points and 11 rebounds in the contest.

Even head coach Tim Cone could only imagine what would have happened if Sotto didn't get injured in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament where it defeated host and then-world No.6 Latvia.

Sotto had 18 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a block against the European powerhouse.

“He has a long way to go, he’s only early 20s. I’m happy for his progression and I’m excited to see what the future holds for him," Brownlee said.

"He does a lot of things very well, shooting, passing. He can do everything on the court. He’s 7-foot-3 and he can do everything. He definitely makes the game a lot easier for everybody,” he added.

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