Basketball World Reacts To Emoni Bates Workout News

On Wednesday, the Memphis Tigers held their Pro Day in front of all 30 NBA teams. Unfortunately, the measurements for Emoni Bates weren’t nearly as great as fans were hoping they’d be.

Bates, the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2021 class, has been compared to a handful of NBA stars over the past few years. The player he’s most often compared to is Kevin Durant due to their size and skillset.

Well, it appears the college basketball world may have to think of a different player comparison for Bates.

NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony released Bates’ measurements this afternoon on Twitter. The consensus from basketball fans is that Bates isn’t nearly as much of a can’t-miss prospect that people made him out to be.

Although his overall height is impressive at 6-foot-9, the fact that Bates’ wingspan is actually two inches shorter is not ideal. His 24.5-inch vertical isn’t very appealing either.

“6’7 wingspan and was getting KD comparisons, we can end that now,” an NBA fan wrote.

“This is a reminder to stop hyping up 15 year old,” another fan tweeted. “Scouts and media haven’t got it right once since LeBron.”

Bates’ measurements shouldn’t completely tank his stock as an NBA prospect, especially since he’s just 17 years old. It’s also possible that he just had an off day when it came to the vertical and agility drills.

That being said, Bates will need to make an immediate impact at Memphis this upcoming season in order to silence his critics.

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