Kai Sotto takes pride in defense in NBA Summer League debut

Kai Sotto finally makes his NBA Summer League debut for Orlando Magic. –NBA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After finally hitting the floor for the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League, Kai Sotto remained confident about his defensive prowess.

After the Magic’s 88-71 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers,  Sotto took pride in his defense and inside presence despite the defeat.

“I didn’t really play a lot but I feel like I was emphasizing the inside presence, especially defensively… Obviously, I’m one of the tallest or maybe the tallest [in the team] so I got to help the team in the paint when I’m in there,” Sotto said at Thomas & Mack Arena, Las Vegas, on Friday (Manila time) as he finally made his debut.

Sotto shored up Orlando’s paint presence, tallying three of the team’s 10 blocks in the loss. He also poured in six points, four rebounds and an assist.

Despite not being much of an impact on offense, the 7-foot-2 big man believes the game will “come to him” sooner than later.

Kai Sotto speaks to the media. pic.twitter.com/Ebcg0Yrqdi

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) July 14, 2023

“Offensively, it’ll come to me. I’m a good teammate so I’m really a willing passer as a big guy,” said Sotto. “[I] just got to work on better looks and making shots for the next game. We just got to bounce back.”

It just took coach Dylan Murphy three games before finally fielding Sotto in the preseason tournament, but when he did, the young gun more than took notice of the competition.

After finally getting more taste of the NBA action, Sotto said that the competition was “more fast-paced” than he was used to.

Kai Sotto #70 of the Orlando Magic shoots the ball during the game against the Portland Trial Blazers during the 2023 NBA Las Vegas Summer League on July 13, 2023 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. –Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

“I think the game of the Summer League is more fast-paced. Lots of young players are trying to prove themselves in an NBA game and environment so it’s pretty fast-paced,” the Ateneo product said.

“Everybody is pretty skilled and everybody is hungry to show that they’re worthy of a roster spot so its competitive it’s finally nice to go out there and play its a nice feeling,” he added.

Up next for Sotto and the Magic are the Boston Celtics on Sunday, 6:30am PH time (via NBA League Pass).