It wasn’t long ago that Emoni Bates was compared to Kevin Durant and hailed as perhaps the best high schooler since LeBron James. But now little is heard of it, instead, the 18-year-old makes negative headlines off the court. Does he still have a future in the NBA?
LeBron James must have been quite impressed while standing on the sidelines of a youth basketball tournament in suburban Indianapolis in May 2019. He helped out as coach of his son Bronny’s AAU team, but it was an opposing youngster who dominated the floor. A 15-year-old gave Bronny and Co. 43 points and 11 rebounds. It was the Emoni Bates show.
Emoni Bates: Durant comparisons, LeBron praise, and SI covers
To understand the hype surrounding Emoni James-Wayne Bates in recent years, you have to go back to the beginning. He was practically born basketball, and his father Elgin, called E.J., played professionally in Switzerland for several years. At the age of three, Emoni began dribbling a basketball around the house, annoying his mother, family sources say. He couldn’t let go of the orange leather, even at night, a mini basketball was always in his arms.
With that passion came a great deal of talent. As a seventh grader, he was averaging 46 points per game in middle school, later leading the high school from his hometown of Ypsilanti to the state championship, becoming the youngest player ever to be named Gatorade Player of the Year, an award for top high- School Athletes in the Nation.
Emoni Bates: A separate school for the son man
Unsurprisingly, the relevant scouting experts listed him as a five-star recruit, in the ESPN Top 100 of the best high schoolers Bates ended up third in his class – behind Chet Holmgren and Jaden Hardy, but ahead of Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith, among others.
From this quintet, three top talents made the leap into the NBA with picks one to three in the 2022 draft. Due to his age, Bates is only eligible to switch to the association next year. However, it is now questionable whether this will happen. Bates’ career has gone in the opposite direction