Emoni Bates can’t help but respond to Cavs fan who says he needs more reps

Rookie Emoni Bates responded to a Cleveland Cavaliers contributor on X (formerly known as Twitter) who said that he needs more reps.

As Bates alluded to in his X post, he hasn’t seen the floor much for the Cavaliers since the start of the 2023-24 regular season. He has appeared in just eight games with the team and is averaging 1.9 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game in 7.6 minutes of playing time.

His most recent appearance came in Cleveland’s 19-point loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. He finished with three points and one assist while shooting 1-of-5 from the field and 1-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc in nine minutes of action.

Bates’ appearance against the Pelicans marked the first game he has played for the Cavaliers in nearly a month. He played 16 minutes in a blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Nov. 22. He also shot 1-of-5 from the field in that game, though all of his shot attempts came from 3-point range.

The 19-year-old was selected with the No. 49 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft after a college basketball career that included one season at the University of Memphis and one season at Eastern Michigan University.

Bates played much better during his season with the Eagles, which was his second and final season of college basketball. In 30 appearances (29 starts) with the Eagles during the 2022-23 regular season, he averaged 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Next up on the regular-season schedule for the Cavaliers and Bates is a road game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

The Bulls have the 11th-best record in the Eastern Conference at 13-17 but have been playing at a high level recently. The team has won seven out of its last 10 games and is currently riding a three-game winning streak with wins over the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.