Cleveland Cavaliers forward Emoni Bates appears to have deleted his Instagram account after he was suspended two games by the G League for entering the spectator stands following the Cleveland Charge’s loss to the Birmingham Squadron on Jan. 20.
The Cavs rookie is suspended without pay for the Charge’s next two games. It was reported that there was jawing going on between the Charge and spectators on Saturday.
Wow! At tail end of broadcast announcers mentioned some "jawing" between @ChargeCLE and fans. https://t.co/1SMWEo7a91
— Charge Nation (@Charge_Nation) January 22, 2024
In the loss to the Squadron, Bates put up 14 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and one steal while shooting 6-of-20 from the floor and 2-of-12 from beyond the arc in 38 minutes.
Both Bates and G Leaguer Gabe Osabuohien were suspended for the incident.
It’s an unfortunate incident for the Cavs and Bates, but Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff came to Bates’ defense.
“We talked to Emoni and I want to be clear about the circumstances of that and I don’t think it’s been clear. It was an ugly incident from the fan standpoint,” Bickerstaff said on Monday night.
“Emoni and Gabe [Osabuohien], they draw the attention and I understand the league’s hard and fast rule on approaching the stands and that type of thing, but there’s also a line that needs to be drawn between how fans believe they can interact with players, how they can interact with players’ families and the things that were said to Emoni and his family.
“I let him know we’ve got his back, we’re still supporting him and as a league there needs to be more done to protect those guys. They should never have to go through what they went through and be called the names they were called.”
It’s nice to see Bickerstaff sticking up for the second-round pick, but the Cavs certainly want Bates to avoid similar incidents in the future.
The young forward has really played well for the Charge this season, averaging 24.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from deep.
Bates has earned some playing time at the NBA level as well this season, appearing in 10 games for the Cavs and averaging 7.6 minutes per game. While he hasn’t been a part of the team’s regular rotation, Bates still could be in future plans for the Cavs.
At the NBA level this season, Bates is averaging 1.8 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.6 assists per game while shooting 25.0 percent from 3-point range.
It’s possible that the young forward decided to delete his Instagram as a way to avoid distractions during this unfortunate time. Hopefully, Bates can put the incident behind him and get back to helping the Charge – and Cavs – when he’s called upon.
