MANILA, Philippines — Filipino young big man Kai Sotto’s highly-anticipated return to basketball action suffered a quick setback as he sprained his right ankle during his debut game for the Koshigaya Alphas in their Japan B.League 2025-26 season on Saturday.
The 7-foot-3 Sotto missed his two field goal attempts, but managed to make his presence felt on the defensive end after contributing three blocked shots in their roadgame against the Ibaraki Robots at Hitachi City Ikenokawa Sakura Arena.
Sotto went for a block on Ibaraki's Kotaro Hisaoka but landed awkwardly with his right ankle.
It apparently looked like a sprained ankle, but the Filipino slotman managed to pick himself up as he gingerly walked back to the team’s bench.
The Robots were up, 57-43 when Sotto got injured during the 3:34 mark of the third period.
Sotto’s premature exit also saw him issue two assists and a rebound.
The Alphas have yet to issue an official statement as of posting time on Sotto’s injury.
Sotto’s return for sure excited the Filipino fans considering that Gilas Pilipinas will be back swinging back to action on February 26 to host New Zealand, ranked 25th in the world for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, followed by Australia on March 1. Both home games would be played at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The 23-year-old Sotto is coming off a year-long layoff since tearing an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) on his knee in a Japan B.League game last season.
The silver lining for the Alphas was they managed to pull off a pulse-pounding 83-81 overtime victory against the Robots to improve their record at 11-20.