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MANILA, Philippines – The longer the Orlando Magic bench Kai Sotto in the NBA Summer League, the angrier his supporters get.
Fans continue to swamp the Magic’s social media pages with thousands of “#LetKaiPlay” comments after Orlando sat out Sotto for the second straight game in the offseason tournament.
Sotto has yet to play a single Summer League minute as he got sidelined in an 89-78 loss to the Detroit Pistons on July 8 and a 108-85 defeat to the Indiana Pacers on July 10.
Expectations were high for Sotto to finally see action against the Pacers after failing to get playing time in their Summer League opener against the Pistons, but he rode the bench anew, much to the chagrin of his Filipino supporters.
In turn, fans sarcastically left “Congrats, Indiana” on several of the Magic’s posts on Facebook since the rout at the hands of the Pacers.
On top of that, six of the Magic’s last eight Facebook posts as of publication time have garnered at least 20,000 angry reactions, with two getting almost at least 30,000.
Sotto, though, has taken his Summer League experience in stride as he stays ready for the time Magic head coach Dylan Murphy calls his number.
“I’m just trying to show my coaches that I’m a good teammate, I’m a good player,” the 21-year-old said in a recent interview with the NBA.
At 7-foot-3, Sotto is the tallest player on the Magic roster.
But Murphy opted to start 6-foot-10 DJ Wilson – a five-year NBA veteran for the Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets, and Toronto Raptors – in their first two games.
Robert Baker, an undrafted 6-foot-11 big man out of Harvard, came off the bench for Wilson in both matches.
Sotto looks to finally crack the rotation when the Magic take on the New York Knicks on Wednesday, July 12 (Thursday, July 13, Manila time).
– Rappler.com
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