Filipino basketball star Kai Sotto has joined Yokohama B-Corsairs, the team announced on their website on Thursday.
Sotto switched Japan B.League teams on a loan basis from Hiroshima Dragonflies, Yokohama said, and the transfer period started on December 26 and will last until the end of the 2023-2024 season.
I wanna thank the team Yokohama B-CORSAIRS and the organization for trusting and signing me to play for the team, despite coming off an injury," Sotto said in a statement translated from Japanese into English via Google.
"I'm very blessed to be given this opportunity and I will make the most out of it. I'm very excited to play for the city of Yokohama. I can't wait to win more games and get better as a player. Go B-COR!" he added.
He suffered a back injury during his stint with the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League, and has not played a single game for the Dragonflies.
Meanwhile, he saw action during the FIBA World Cup but barely had minutes due to his injury.
The 7'3 big man earned praise from General Manager Ken Takeda, who also said in the same announcement that if they could "step up to the next level, we will be able to reach our goals."
"Kai Sotto is a very promising young player with a size of 220cm and a soft shooting touch. We have high expectations for him, not only as an inside defense and rebounder but also as a new option on offense," Takeda said in Japanese, translated into English.
"I believe that with the addition of Sotto, the team will gain even more energy and accelerate into the mid-game and second-half games," he added.
Sotto also posted on Instagram on what seemed to be related to the development, captioning it with an hourglass emoji.
He also reposted the team announcement in his Instagram Story.
