Kai Zachary Sotto, the Philippines' Rising Basketball Star

Hello Ballers Gear readers, in this segment of On The Rise, we introduce to you the most exciting and most promising basketball talent coming from the Philippines… Kai Sotto! Let’s have a look at his family background and we will follow his journey to make it to the NBA.

Kai’s Dad, Ervin Sotto

Ervin Sotto is one of the players in the Philippine Basketball Association with a height of 6’ 7”. He played for multiple teams including the 2010 Fiesta Conference Championship Alaska Aces. He first played at St. Francis of Assisi during his college years. Ervin showed off his abilities on the court and served as Ranidel De Ocampo’s frontcourt running mate in some of their National Capital Region Athletic Association championship teams.

Photo by: Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/air21/1809255575/in/photostream/

With Ervin Sotto showing his furious skills on the court, he was recruited to be a part of the Philippine Basketball Association. He was part of the loaded 2004 class that includes the gladiators of that time: RDO, Marc Pingris, and two-time MVP James Yap. He was the 7th player to be picked during the first round and got into the Purefoods team. Sotto had one season with the Tender Juicy Hotdogs’ team and eventually made a short stop at Shell before deciding to play the season with the Barangay Ginebra team.

With all the hardships that Ervin Sotto showed in front of his fans, he was picked as one of the players in the Alaska Aces in 2008. He then finished his Philippne Basketball Association career with a short duration of playing in the Petron Blaze team during 2012. Though he is not already part of the Philippne Basketball Association, he is still involved in the league as Yeng Guiao’s coaching staff in the NLEX Road Warriors.

Photo by: ABS-CBN Sports
https://sports.abs-cbn.com/pba/news/2020/05/15/kai-sotto-s-dad-ervin-6-7-pba-champion-alaska-68212

Kai Sotto’s Birth

Ervin Sotto was married to Pamela who bore an amazing and talented son on May 11, 2002, Kai Zachary Sotto. Ervin was the one who named his first son. He got the “Kai Zachary” from the tattoos on his arms, inspired by the story of Poseidon (Greek god of the sea) and Zachary with Angel Gabriel. Indeed, Kai Zachary Sotto was so blessed to be one of the best basketball players in the Philippines. Having a great veteran Philipine Basketball Association Dad player, Kai Zachary learned how to love basketball at a very young age. Kai was always with his dad, he was like a shadow of Ervin. Kai always watched his father’s games and training, until his mom decided to give him small balls and a basket. With this, Ervin saw his little child’s capability to play basketball.

Ever since Kai Zachary started to go to school, he already noticed that his height is not the same as his classmates. Kai followed the footsteps of his father to the point that he was enrolled to the same school where Ervin became a basketball player during his college, St. Francis of Assisi but he was transferred to the Ateneo de Manila University, Junior High School, when he was in high school. Eventually, his entire family moved to Quezon City to support Kai and to take care of him. Kai was very happy and felt very lucky for the support he received from his family. Just like in the St. Francis of Assisi, he became a varsity player of the Ateneo de Manila University. He started to notice his fast growing height at around the age of 13 and started to monitor his height. He first took a note of his height 6’ 9” and furiously sprouted 7’ 2” at the age of 18 years old.

He played for the Blue Eaglets basketball team of the Ateneo de Manila University and helped his teammate to win the UAAP seasons. Kai Zachary was very happy with his new team because of the tight relationship he had with his teammate and a warm welcome of his coach.

How did Kai Sotto become so good at playing basketball? The former Philippine Basketball Association’s player, Ervin Sotto, said in an interview that he always teaches Kai Zachary to give out the best in him. He taught this through his actions when they are playing basketball or video games. Ervin Sotto would not let himself be beaten by Kai Zachary in any aspects. They used to have these “trash talks” to boost their mood while playing video games or basketball. As a kid, Kai Zachary cannot beat his father. But the time came when Kai Zachary knew that he could beat his father in basketball when he grew taller than his father. Kai Zachary used to play with his father’s teammates and they could see that Kai Zachary is extraordinary. Ervin’s teammates would most likely trash talk Ervin because Kai Zachary can now defeat his father. Since then, Ervin knew that his son would be greater than him.

Back then, Kai Zachary started to play at a very young age when he was with his cousins and would play a league under the heat of the sun. Having a tremendous height at a young age, he would love to play leagues with the older people like carpenters, jeepney drivers etc. His father would just let him play in the different leagues.

Photo by: Spin.ph
https://www.spin.ph/basketball/gilas-assistant-coach-alex-compton-believes-its-unfair-to-put-pressure-on-kai-sottos-playing-career

Junior Games

Not long after, Kai Zachery first opened his eyes when he got into the Junior NBA Philippines National Camp in Makati City in 2016.

“Yung Jr. NBA, ang saya tapos ang dami ko pang natutunan. Yung STAR (Sportsmanship, Teamwork, positive Attitude, and Respect) values, malaking bagay na natutunan ko yun.” -Kai Zachary Sotto

Kai Zachary really wanted to become part of the National Basketball Association. His family has a complete hands on with his dream. Ervin Sotto would always tell him not to hurry and take the process slowly but surely. Kai Zachary would always want a challenging opponent. He wanted to have a tall, strong, and a different opponent that would always be beyond his height and strength, that gives him the opportunity to be stronger and to learn more. As what his father taught him, Kai Zachary would always not let his guard down even though his opponent is his idol. This is what Ervin Sotto told him, do not let your guard down and continue to show off the best in you. Ervin learned this lesson from his coach when he was still in the Philippine Basketball Association. Everything that Kai Zachary’s father would tell him, he would listen and obey his father’s advice.

Kai Zachary and Ervin really showed a strong bond of a father-and-son-relationship. Their relationship was strongly built with the foundation of basketball in their blood. With his father by his side, he was recruited to be a part of the Batang Gilas. He would always say that he was so lucky enough to have his father by his side, guiding him to the right way. And ofcourse, his entire family’s support. Whenever Kai Zachary would have a special game, his family and relatives would be there to watch his game. His father mentioned in an interview that their relatives in Las Pinas City would always love to play basketball and support their family. It is like a tradition for their family to be proud and support each other’s success. It is not just a father and son relationship that was built in Kai Zachary’s personality but also a very good relationship with his entire family. Just like when Kai Zachary had his game in UAAP, his relatives and family watched his game and had their uniform of Black Panther Shirt. Kai Zachary was taught by his parents to be really a nice and loving kid. Pamela Sotto and Ervin Sotto grew their child in a right way.

Batang Gilas

As one of the Batang Gilas, they represented the country during the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Championships. Luckily, the team had four towers: 6’ 7” Raven Cortez, 6’ 7” Carl Tamayo, 6’ 8” Geo Chiu, and 7′ 1” Kai Sotto that was able to match up with the other basketball players of the different countries. They burned down the team of Egypt (70 – 69) and New Zealand (73 – 51).

Kai Zachary has a goal to achieve in life, to be a part of the National Basketball Association. Every filipino citizen has a huge hope for Kai Zachary’s success to be drafted in the National Basketball Association. Kai Zachary already built his image at a very young age. He became the hot topic of social media, supporting him through his journey as being the first Filipino teenager to chase his dream to be a part of the National Basketball Association. At a very young age, Kai Zachary is slowly achieving his dreams together with the guidance of his loving parents, Pamela and Erving. With the support of his family, he opened his mind to accept some overseas basketball opportunities to improve his skills and to be able to go into the National Basketball Association.