MANILA, Philippines -- Kai Sotto's involvement in the NBA G League has generated plenty of excitement and hype in the already basketball-obsessed Philippines.

This, according to NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, who has already seen the impact of Sotto's participation with Team Ignite, the G League squad composed of top prospects who are looking to make their way to the NBA.

"The short answer is, yes, we see incredible excitement in the Philippines as a result of Kai Sotto's involvement with Team Ignite," Tatum said in a conference call Wednesday.

Sotto, a former UAAP juniors most valuable player and a mainstay of the Philippines' youth teams, opted to bypass college to join the G League in May. It was a trailblazing decision for the 7-foot-2 teenager, who is looking to be the first homegrown Filipino player to make it to the big league.

But it's not just Sotto who's generating considerable excitement in the Philippines. Tatum noted that Jalen Green, one of Sotto's teammates, also has Filipino heritage and is being tipped as a top prospect in the 2021 NBA Rookie Draft.

Green was the first player to announce his commitment to the G League. He and Sotto were soon followed by other top prospects including Daishen Nix, Isaiah Todd, and Jonathan Kuminga.

"What we see is continued unprecedented interest in the game in the Philippines and other parts of the world," he noted.

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Aside from increasing interest in an already hoops-mad country like the Philippines, the rise of Sotto and another one of his teammates, India's Princepal Singh, is also significant for the NBA as they look to discover more international talents.

The NBA announced that ahead of the start of its 2020-21 season, there were 107 international players from 41 countries in the league -- including 17 from Canada.

"Players like Kai Sotto, who grew up in our Jr. NBA program and is now playing in our Team Ignite in the G League… That will, to answer your question about do we see more development of players coming from around the rest of the world, the short answer is absolutely," said Tatum.

"Princepal Singh is an NBA Academy graduate from India who is also playing with Kai Sotto on this Team Ignite," he added.

• READ: NBA to keep Kai Sotto close to Pinoy fans during G League campaign

Tatum said they will continue to take steps to discover and develop international talents like Sotto and Singh, in the hopes that they will one day play in the NBA. These include setting up academies and workshops all over the world, as well as deepening their investment in the Jr. NBA program where Sotto initially made his name.

"We continuing to invest at the grassroots level in Jr. NBA programs around the world, in basketball school programs around the world, and then NBA academies in certain parts of the world to continue that process of developing elite talent that will eventually play in our league," said Tatum.

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