What a disappointing development (if you can call it such).
how would this affect Kai's eligibility for the upcoming draft? is he still automatically eligible ?
Dunno which camp is more dumb. Kobe's camp or Kai's camp. Kai's camp probably thought G_league will wait for him so it's okay to join Gilas because KAI IS A STAR LOL. For ********* sake he was already one step closer to his dream and he just let it slipped away like that. The heck were they thinking? lol
First was NCAA opportunity and then this? Oh my. Hope our next guy won't do anything stupid like these hyped Filipino ballers and really follow through.
Yes. Eligible. If he forego this year then he's FA.. already received some monthly wages from ignite team..
Going back to the Phil to play for college ball would going 100 steps backward. What for? Theres not even an indication that the UAAP will resume yet.
Dunno which camp is more dumb. Kobe's camp or Kai's camp. Kai's camp probably thought G_league will wait for him so it's okay to join Gilas because KAI IS A STAR LOL. For ********* sake he was already one step closer to his dream and he just let it slipped away like that. The heck were they thinking? lol
First was NCAA opportunity and then this? Oh my. Hope our next guy won't do anything stupid like these hyped Filipino ballers and really follow through.
He can play for Gilas again in the PBA, then go play for Ateneo like Dwight Ramos. Ateneo finds loopholes with these things. Tab Baldwin, a foreigner, is even coaching a college team because of his connections with the SBP
Both Kobe and Kai suffer from the same thing, weak egos because they couldn't handle expectations. In the Philippines, they are worshipped and adored even more than the average local basketball star. Commercials, seeing their faces on billboards, and all the media hype from back home gave them inflated egos. Both spent their final high school years in the US and were always touted as the Philippines "best" shot at getting a homegrown player to the NBA. However, when they got to the next level that's why reality set in. Kobe spent his time keeping the benches warm in college and Kai knew he was going to do the same on Ignite. So instead of enduring the embarrassment of being labeled as failures, they instead chose to run off. Kobe left his Creighton and Kai left Ignite. See the pattern here? Weak Egos!
For those who keep asking why did Kai choose the Fiba Qualifiers over the GLeague, let me enlighten you on what is already blatantly obvious. Let's start off when Kai signed a contract to Ignite. By signing the contract, just as many people here have posted, he essentially turned pro and became eligible to enter the 2021 NBA draft. The plan was, do well in Ignite, raised his stock, and get drafted this year. Kai did not join Ignite so he could spend 2 or 3 years developing, he joined with the intention of being drafted in 2021. Then things went south. It soon became apparent to Kai that on Ignite he wasn't not getting the numbers he wanted, the minutes he expected and the attention he was accustomed to. So what was the bright idea?? Play in the Fiba qualifiers where he can hopefully get good stats, play extended minutes and once again, be the center of attention.
That's why I criticized all Kai's "extracurricular' activities such as starting his own brand and opening an academy. He became too greedy and disillusioned that he was a superstar in the making. He didn't even stop to think that maybe he might not be ready this year. The NCAA would have been a better option in case he still needed to develop instead of turning pro right away. Look at Rui Hachimura. He spent 3 years at Gonzaga, improving each year, and now he is a solid NBA player.
And that's the tragedy in this situation. Kai has the tools to make it into the NBA if he had a few more years to refine his game. With what has happened the NBA will look poorly on him. Joining Ignite was a privilege and not a right. This is evident with Ignite doing well despite his absence. The GLeague is full of current, former and aspiring NBA players who chose to play there with the hope of making it to the NBA instead of taking better paying gigs overseas. Kai has taken this opportunity and spat it back into the face of the Gleague and the NBA. Many will view him as arrogant, impatient, disrespectful and extremely poor at making decisions. Unless Kai is the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon, don't expect him to ever make it into the NBA. There are so many talented basketball players in the world that unless you stand out, you won't have a chance of even being noticed. Kai did stand out, but for all the wrong reasons.
Many will also say that Kai is just a kid and he can't be blamed for any of this. It doesn't matter what EWP, SBP or his parents "advised" him to do. At the end of the day the buck stops with him and he has to take accountability for his career. If he is old enough to drive, join the military or get married, he should be considered a big boy who can make big boy decisions.
IF Ateneo argues that technically, he hasn’t played 1 pro game yet, is it possible he ends up in the UAAP, instead of the PBA? Will his pride be able to take it?
Also, what’s going to happen to his Kaiju basketball academy in Ohio?
A Simplistic list on what Kai's Next Move Should Be:
1. Fire his agency (EWP). Th agents are working for him, not the other way around.
2. Get a new agent that will only cater on what's good for him. Not his dad, not Gilas, not SBP.
3. Work out, get in shape.
4. Audition in Europe or in Australia. If his best offer is in Div 2. so be it. Start from the ground up
5. Learn from all of these and be better.
Both Kobe and Kai suffer from the same thing, weak egos because they couldn't handle expectations. In the Philippines, they are worshipped and adored even more than the average local basketball star. Commercials, seeing their faces on billboards, and all the media hype from back home gave them inflated egos. Both spent their final high school years in the US and were always touted as the Philippines "best" shot at getting a homegrown player to the NBA. However, when they got to the next level that's why reality set in. Kobe spent his time keeping the benches warm in college and Kai knew he was going to do the same on Ignite. So instead of enduring the embarrassment of being labeled as failures, they instead chose to run off. Kobe left his Creighton and Kai left Ignite. See the pattern here? Weak Egos!
For those who keep asking why did Kai choose the Fiba Qualifiers over the GLeague, let me enlighten you on what is already blatantly obvious. Let's start off when Kai signed a contract to Ignite. By signing the contract, just as many people here have posted, he essentially turned pro and became eligible to enter the 2021 NBA draft. The plan was, do well in Ignite, raised his stock, and get drafted this year. Kai did not join Ignite so he could spend 2 or 3 years developing, he joined with the intention of being drafted in 2021. Then things went south. It soon became apparent to Kai that on Ignite he wasn't not getting the numbers he wanted, the minutes he expected and the attention he was accustomed to. So what was the bright idea?? Play in the Fiba qualifiers where he can hopefully get good stats, play extended minutes and once again, be the center of attention.
That's why I criticized all Kai's "extracurricular' activities such as starting his own brand and opening an academy. He became too greedy and disillusioned that he was a superstar in the making. He didn't even stop to think that maybe he might not be ready this year. The NCAA would have been a better option in case he still needed to develop instead of turning pro right away. Look at Rui Hachimura. He spent 3 years at Gonzaga, improving each year, and now he is a solid NBA player.
And that's the tragedy in this situation. Kai has the tools to make it into the NBA if he had a few more years to refine his game. With what has happened the NBA will look poorly on him. Joining Ignite was a privilege and not a right. This is evident with Ignite doing well despite his absence. The GLeague is full of current, former and aspiring NBA players who chose to play there with the hope of making it to the NBA instead of taking better paying gigs overseas. Kai has taken this opportunity and spat it back into the face of the Gleague and the NBA. Many will view him as arrogant, impatient, disrespectful and extremely poor at making decisions. Unless Kai is the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon, don't expect him to ever make it into the NBA. There are so many talented basketball players in the world that unless you stand out, you won't have a chance of even being noticed. Kai did stand out, but for all the wrong reasons.
Many will also say that Kai is just a kid and he can't be blamed for any of this. It doesn't matter what EWP, SBP or his parents "advised" him to do. At the end of the day the buck stops with him and he has to take accountability for his career. If he is old enough to drive, join the military or get married, he should be considered a big boy who can make big boy decisions.