Emoni Bates was not selected in the first 30 picks of the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday. Fans suspected that the Memphis Tigers star’s gun charges caused his fall.
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Bates, who transferred from Memphis to Eastern Michigan this summer, was arrested two miles from campus in Superior Township, Michigan after a sheriff’s deputies discovered a firearm in a vehicle he was driving.
He faced charges of carrying a concealed weapon and “altering ID marks” on a firearm following the incident.
As the Memphis Tigers star was not selected in the first 30 picks of the draft. Several NBA fans anticipated that the reason for his downfall in the sport may be due to the charges against him.
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Several NBA fans took to Twitter and voiced their opinions. One user wrote, “Lakers take either James Nnaji or Emoni Bates with the 40th pick & we call it even. 🤝🏾”
Several fans urged their favorite teams to go for Bates. “I hope Max is available when the lakers select but if not I wouldn’t mind taking a chance on Emoni bates. Obviously he has the size and skill just off court stuff and kinda hurt his stock. #LakeShow #NBADraft”, another user tweeted.
One user tweeted, “Like the Nick Smith Jr pick. Very big boom if he can reach his potential. I would like us to use one of our 2nds on a draft and stash European dude and another on Emoni Bates. Let’s grab all high potential dudes. One has to work.”
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Early in 2016, Emoni Bates first attracted widespread attention when he displayed his basketball-playing abilities. He performed admirably with the Toledo Wildcats at an AAU tournament in Chicago, averaging 28 points and 12 rebounds per contest. Bates was the top player in the 2022 class according to the recruiting website Future150 while attending Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
