Kevin Durant has been the prototype for a plethora of up-and-coming stars that the NBA is currently witnessing/will witness. Lanky, fluid, 6’9+ frontcourt players who can dribble, pass, shoot off the dribble all while spacing the floor are archetypes any team would want in a player.
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Emoni Bates was one of these players as he was a top recruit coming out of high school. He committed to Memphis as his university of choice but would be faced with quite the turn of events when he was arrested while driving his car on September 18th at 10:45PM
Officers had smelled marijuana from his vehicle and so pulled him over. Bates would soon reveal to them that he was in possession of marijuana and a gun. He was very cooperative from the beginning of it all and was eventually sentenced to 18 months of probation.
Emoni Bates gets advice from Kevin Durant
Emoni did release an apology for what he had done, stating, “I hold myself accountable for making a poor decision, and hope you can forgive me as I grow because this will not be my last mistake, however; a lasting stigma to remind me of the severity of such a mistake.”
Bates seems to have used this experience of his as a way to grow as a man and rightfully so. He also has the full support of a man who he looks up to in the NBA world and that man is Kevin Durant. Durant recently came out with a few encouraging words for the now, Michigan star.
“I like that he is going the total opposite route in life. Leaving school early, transferring from Memphis, got arrested. Went through some sh*t. You got to go through some sh*t in this life to truly understand where you are. He’s playing good ball right now. He’s a little more grounded.”
Emoni Bates transferred to Michigan
Emoni Bates averaged 32.4 points in the year that he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school. He was slated to be a consensus first overall pick in whichever NBA Draft he would declare for. However, after a lackluster stint with Memphis, he would transfer to Eastern Michigan University.
Bates grew up in Michigan so playing at EMU would make him feel quite at ease. He’s improved significantly from his freshman year at Memphis, as he’s currently averaging 19.4 points per game on 44% shooting from the field.
His ability to make decisions when it comes to getting players involved needs a lot of work but as a scorer, he’s still very much the player he was back in high school.
