'I don’t know, mahirap sabihin': Kai Sotto's Gilas stint up in air amid back injury
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey – Kai Sotto is flying back to the Philippines Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time) as scheduled, according to his agent Tony Ronzone of Wasserman.
But his availability for Gilas Pilipinas remains uncertain.
“Nothing to date (about Gilas decision). We’re being patient with Kai so he can get some much-needed rest,” Ronzone told Philstar.com.
Ronzone said the 7-foot-3 NBA hopeful suffered a back spasm.
“He’s all good. He just needs to rest his back,” Ronzone added.
Sotto’s back injury prevented him from finishing Orlando Magic’s final game against the Boston Celtics, which they lost 94-77 on Saturday (Sunday Manila time) in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
After the Magic’s fifth straight loss, Sotto told TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN News’ North America Bureau Chief, that he’s unsure of joining Gilas for the FIBA World Cup next month.
“I don’t know, mahirap sabihin,” Sotto said. "Kasi simula last year, tuloy-tuloy laro ko. Wala akong break para ipahinga katawan ko. Aalagaan ko muna likod ko at magre-rehab ako as soon as I get back. So, we’ll see.”
An NBA physical therapist and athletic trainer reached by Philstar.com politely declined to comment about Sotto’s injury since he said, “Back spasm is quite a vague term to create a prognosis and timeline.”
In other words, he needs to assess him in person.
What is back spasm?
According to AdventHealth, Magic’s official healthcare provider, “back spasm is a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle that supports the spine, usually in the lumbar region. Typically, It is the result of excessive stress on the supporting structures of the lower back caused by quick or repeated twisting movement.”
It is a common injury not only in the NBA but in all professional sports. NBA big men in recent memory who experienced back spasms are Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Kevin Garnett, David Lee and Amar’e Stoudemire.
In a 2014 interview with the New York Post, Stoudemire said backs spasm is nothing easy to deal with.
“Your whole body shuts down. It affects your central nervous system. It affects your entire body. It takes time to get over that spasm. It takes a lot of rest and recovery and a lot of rehab to get over that particular injury.”
Jeff Stotts, a certified athletic trainer, who tracks down NBA injuries on his website instreetclothes.com, wrote in 2014, “Back spasms aren’t actually an injury but the symptom of an underlying cause. When an injury to the muscles or other tissues of the back results in pain, the affected individual often enters into a viscous sequence known as the pain-spasm-pain cycle."
According to Stotts, back spasm does not require surgery.
“Various modalities can be utilized, including anti-inflammatory medication, hot or cold therapy, and physical therapy. Once the individual is comfortable, the main goal of the medical staff becomes locating and fixing the primary cause of the injury to prevent the cycle from reoccurring,” Stotts wrote.
With only less than two weeks to go before Gilas’ pocket tournament in China, Sotto might have to sit it out for his long-term health.
Gilas is scheduled to fly to China on August 1, where they will play national teams from Lebanon, Iran and Senegal.
Gilas’ 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign tips off on August 25 against the Dominican Republic.
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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for the New York-based website Heavy.com.
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