The careers of Kai Sotto and Carl Tamayo will forever be intertwined.
Though really good friends since their days in Gilas Youth, the two used to have a heated rivalry in the UAAP Boys’ division.
Back then, Tamayo was with National University Nazareth School while Sotto was with Ateneo High School.
“We played against each other in high school,” recalled Sotto, who won MVP during his final year in Ateneo back in UAAP Season 81.
But it was during their time with Gilas’ Under-19 squad when the two got to know each other.
Their batch brought the Philippines to the Under-19 World Cup. Two years later, the two would also anchor Gilas — this time the men’s team — to the Asia Cup and in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Photo from FIBA.basketball
“We started playing as young players, we started in the youth team in the Philippines,” said Tamayo.
“Yeah, Carl Tamayo is a really good friend of mine. We were teammates in the national team a couple of times, national team, men’s national team, Under-18, Under-19, we go way back,” shared Sotto.
The two though would go their separate ways with Sotto heading to the US and, later on, Australia.
Photo from Adelaide 36ers
Meanwhile, Tamayo remained in the Philippines to study at University of the Philippines.
But as fate would have it, the two would meet again. This time in Japan.
And on Wednesday at Okinawa Arena, Sotto, now with Hiroshima, will face Tamayo and Ryukyu in their respective league debuts.
“It will be fun and it’ll be exciting seeing Kai and me playing in the pro league at the same time,” said Tamayo during his media introduction hosted by the Golden Kings.
“I told him two years ago, you could already go pro right now. So, I was happy to have him as my first game,” said Sotto.
“I’m excited to see him, I’m excited to play against him and I’m confident that he will do good in this league because I know how good Carl Tamayo is.”
This will be the first of three meetings the two will have in Japan.
But of course, nothing will ever beat the first time.
