You can only take so much away from the spliced together highlight reels of a physically imposing young man dominating the smaller competition. For every John Wall highlight tape, there’s a Thon Maker. But so far Emoni Bates looks like the real deal. He’s young, but he needs to be on the San Antonio Spurs radar.
A 30 point per night scorer, Bates recently took home the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award as a sophomore. He is the youngest player ever to receive the award. A 6’9 scoring fiend, Bates is grouped in with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Zion Williamson among high school basketball’s most exciting prospects.