Fact check - private individuals

FALSE: Kai Sotto joining 2021 NBA Draft

Rappler.com

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FALSE: Kai Sotto joining 2021 NBA Draft
There is no record of the purported source of the information, which is a tweet from American sports reporter Shams Charania. Kai Sotto will be eligible for the NBA Draft starting 2022.
At a glance
  • Claim: Filipino basketball star Kai Sotto is joining the 2021 NBA Draft, according to a tweet from American sports reporter Shams Charania.
  • Rating: FALSE
  • The facts: There is no record of the supposed tweet from Charania. The closest tweet that Charania made about Sotto was on April 21, when the sports reporter said Sotto “will be NBA Draft-eligible starting 2022.”
  • Why we fact-checked this: The post attributing a fake tweet to Charania has gotten over 5,200 reactions, 3,700 shares, and 250 comments on Facebook, as of writing.
Complete details

On June 24, Facebook page “NBA World” uploaded a screenshot of a fake tweet from American sports reporter Shams Charania. The fake tweet says, “Kai Sotto will join NBA Draft 2021.” It has no timestamp.

The page’s caption says that Charania tweeted the news after the successful run of Gilas Pilipinas in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in June. (READ: ‘Tough’ Kai Sotto impresses Tab Baldwin after first Gilas Pilipinas stint)

The post has 5,200 reactions, 3,700 shares, and 250 comments on Facebook, as of writing.

This is false.

American sports reporter Shams Charania did not tweet about Kai Sotto joining the 2021 NBA Draft. There is no record of the supposed tweet from Charania.

The closest tweet that Charania made about Sotto was on April 21, when the sports reporter said Sotto “will be NBA Draft-eligible starting 2022.”

In April, reports said that the 19-year-old Filipino basketball star was scrapped from the draftees list due to an NBA rule that requires players to be one year removed from high school. Sotto only graduated on April 2.

The 2021 NBA Draft is scheduled to take place on July 29.

On July 1 (Manila time), Sotto played with Gilas Pilipinas for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. – Owenh Toledo/Rappler.com

Owenh Toledo is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.

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