Emoni Bates is on a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and mostly features for their G-League affiliate Cleveland Charge. He has appeared in 10 out of the 37 games for the Cavs and has logged fewer than 10 minutes per game. The fact that 19-year Bates doesn’t get substantial NBA minutes has irked Kevin Garnett repeatedly. On his Instagram, he iterated his desire to see the forward get a big role in the league.
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The Big Ticket shared a reel of Emoni Bates, with the text, “EMONI BATES IN THE G-LEAGUE IS UNFAIR. 38 PTS 6REBS 4 AST 8/15 FROM 3″ The narrator of the video opines that the rookie is “playing with a chip on his shoulder”. The narrator remains unconvinced that the 6’9” forward with a sleek jumper and point guard-like handles doesn’t belong in the league.
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Calling the forward a “professional scorer”, the narrator went as far as saying that until he gets the deserved role, Cavs fans should “boycott” their games. KG co-signed these thoughts and wrote in his story,
“BROOO I’m saying the same thing.. tf [the fu*k] going on”
Then he motivated the rook to keep his high-value production up. He added, “KEEP BALLING YOUNG FELLA. WE SEE U. Trust the process”
KG on Emoni Bates on IG pic.twitter.com/4oz04779Wu
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) January 12, 2024
This is not the first time Garnett is riding the Bates hype train. Earlier in the season, after watching his G-League highlights, he couldn’t understand why the “walking bucket” was in the G-League. He wanted him to have a bigger role, and expressed, “Nah dog this kid should be the first off the bench…f**k Cavs doing?”
Is it because his history has stained his reputation? Or does he need to improve further to get an impactful NBA role?
Emoni Bates has a troubled history
During the 2023 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Emoni Bates as the 49th pick in the second round. He is averaging a meagre 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds per game right now but that is because of lack of consistent minutes. The forward was expected to land a much better role in the pros during his high school days. A five-star recruit and a top-three player in the 2021 High School class, the rookie decided to go the college route, after contemplating a G-League stint.
In his freshman year, he played for NCAA’s Memphis Tigers and after an impressive debut, he fell off significantly. As a result, he dropped in the NBA Draft projections. Bates switched to Eastern Michigan University but before the season, he hit a huge roadblock.
On September 19, 2022, he was suspended from the university after the local police took him into custody for possession of firearms with scratched ID marks in a vehicle. There were fears of him getting charged with a felony, but Bates pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and dodged a punishment of up to five years in prison.
After narrowly avoiding a big prison sentence, the forward tallied 19.2 points per game during the 2022-23 NCAA season. It was an almost 10-points-per-game improvement from his season in Memphis, however, he played in the MAC Conference which is inferior to the ACC. At any rate, he has continued his incredible development in the G-League.
Soon, the Cavs may look to offer him a bigger role. With weapons like Spida Donovan Mitchell in their roster, Bates can provide the team with just the support they need right now. Perhaps, they are looking for him to improve further and readying him for a much tougher NBA job.
