 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1956-05-31)May 31, 1956 (age 69) Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 211 lb (96 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | McAdams (McAdams, Mississippi) |
| College | Kentucky State (1974–1978) |
| NBA draft | 1978: 3rd round, 47th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Houston Rockets |
| Playing career | 1978–1990 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 12, 34, 35, 2 |
| Coaching career | 1979–1980 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1978–1980 | Maine Lumberjacks |
| 1980–1982 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1982 | Washington Bullets |
| 1983 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1983–1984 | Ohio Mixers |
| 1983 | Crispa Redmanizers |
| 1984–1986 | Fribourg Olympic |
| 1986–1987 | Charleston Gunners |
| 1986–1988 | Ginebra San Miguel |
| 1990 | Pensacola Tornados |
Coaching | |
| 1979–1980 | Maine Lumberjacks |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 2,197 |
| Rebound | 313 |
| Assists/Steals | 352/151 |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Billy Ray Bates (born May 31, 1956) is a retired American professionalbasketball player. Bates playedshooting guard at McAdams High in Mississippi and attendedKentucky State University.
Bates played four seasons in theNational Basketball Association for thePortland Trail Blazers,Washington Bullets, andLos Angeles Lakers. He also played overseas, in Switzerland,Mexico,Uruguay, and most notably in thePhilippines for theCrispa Redmanizers andGinebra San Miguel of thePhilippine Basketball Association (PBA). Bates is considered one of the greatest foreign players in the PBA's history.[1]
Billy Ray Bates, the eighth of nine children, played basketball at McAdams High in Mississippi. He later played basketball forKentucky State University.
TheHouston Rockets drafted him in the 3rd round of the1978 draft. Before the season started, he was cut by the Rockets, after his agent demanded guaranteed money.[2] He ended up playing for theMaine Lumberjacks in the now-defunctContinental Basketball Association, where he won the league's Rookie of the Year[3] and the slam dunk competition in its all-star game. Bates is credited forshattering at least four backboards in the Continental league before jumping to the NBA.[4] He served as head coach of the Lumberjacks for 12 games during the 1979–80 season and accumulated a 5–7 record.[5]
After signing a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers in February 1980, the 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 210 lb (95 kilograms) guard became a crowd favorite for his slam dunks and energetic playing style. He once scored 40 points in 32 minutes against San Diego and later 35 points in 25 minutes against theDallas Mavericks. He was namedNBA Player of the Week towards the end of his rookie season. He averaged 25.0 points per game (ppg) in the 1980 playoffs and 28.3 ppg in the 1981 playoffs. As of 2009[update], this is the franchise record.[6]
Bates played briefly with the Washington Bullets in the1982–83 season, appearing in 15 games before being let go. He then had a 10-day trial with the Lakers and appeared in four games.[7]
His average of 26.7 ppg in the playoffs is the highest in NBA history by a non-starter.[8]
Bates began play in thePhilippine Basketball Association (PBA) in 1983. His scoring ability, showmanship, and personality endeared him to the basketball-watching Filipino public and the media. He was called theBlack Superman. A local shoe manufacturer produced a line of shoes for him to endorse, with his nickname on them.[9]
Bates toldThe Oregonian: "They loved me ... There, I was likeMichael Jordan. I could have anything I wanted. All I had to do was snap my fingers. I had my own condo, my own car and my own bodyguard with anUzi. I had to fight off the women."[10]
Bates won the 1983 Best Import award and helped theCrispa Redmanizers win two championships. Three years later, Bates and Michael Hackett joined forces to give Ginebra its first PBA title in 1986. He returned to Ginebra in 1987 leading all imports with a 54.9 ppg average. His last stint with Ginebra, then renamed Añejo, was in 1988; Bates played in four games, all of which the team lost, and he was released.[11]
In Bates' four seasons in the PBA for Crispa and Ginebra, he averaged the all-time league high of 46.2 points in 98 career games.[11]
Bates has been celebrated as the greatest foreign player to have played in the PBA. In October 2011, the PBA inducted him into itshall of fame. Bates flew into the Philippines to personally attend the ceremonies while expressing his fervent wish to work as a basketball coach in his "second home". ThePhilippine Patriots of theASEAN Basketball League (ABL) hired him as its skills coach. On March 8, 2012, the Philippine Patriots fired him due to "repeated misconduct and acts detrimental to the team and to the league".[12]
Bates later played in Switzerland with theFIBA EuroLeague clubFribourg Olympic, during the1985–86 season, back in the U.S. with theWorld Basketball League, a few seasons in Mexico, and a season in Uruguay.[13]
Bates was born in 1956, the second-youngest of nine children, and was raised inGoodman, Mississippi, in a house with no plumbing and no electricity. After his father died when Billy Ray was seven years old, the children worked the fields to support their family. Bates attended school primarily to play basketball; he was able to slam dunk in his second year in high school, but he reportedly never learned to read full sentences.[11] Like his late father, Billy Ray had experienced problems withalcoholism; he first triedmalt liquor at age 10, andmoonshine by age 14. His use of alcohol and cocaine had significant impacts on his career and health.[6]
Bates has been described as a player unprepared for the lifestyle of a professional athlete.Jerome Kersey writes,
After picking Bates up at thePortland airport, then-Blazer trainer Ron Culp advised Billy Ray not to carry large amounts of cash around, but rather to open up achecking account so that he could pay bills with checks. Bates had a quizzical expression on his face, Culp recalled, and finally worked up the nerve to ask, "What are checks?"[14]
Bates once epitomized the image of hard-partying, sex-crazed athletes in the PBA. His Filipino teammates recalled times when Bates downed a couple of beers in the locker room before tip-off. His teammates told a reporter that Bates was known for a flamboyant lifestyle, including frequent drinking, companionships with many women, and frivolous spending.[11]
On January 17, 1998, Bates robbed aTexaco gas station in Gloucester, New Jersey, at knifepoint.[6] Bates served nearly five years atBayside State Prison inLeesburg for first-degree aggravated assault and second-degree assault. He was paroled in March 2005, then 18 months later, he served another three months and 24 days in prison after violating his parole by failing a drug test.[15]
In 2009, Bates had submitted an autobiography entitledBorn to Play Basketball for publication. The manuscript was handwritten in ink and pencil, spanned 714 pages of legal paper, and required significant editing.[6]
In 2025, during a live segment ofInside the NBA,Shaquille O'Neal said that Bates had died after fellow panelistCharles Barkley wondered aloud whether he was still alive. "I'm doing good for a dead man", Bates toldNJ Advance Media.Ernie Johnson Jr., the host ofInside, apologized for thepremature obituary, but O'Neal and Barkley did not.[16][17]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Source[18]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Portland | 16 | 0 | 14.7 | .493 | .421 | .718 | 1.8 | 1.9 | .9 | .1 | 11.3 |
| 1980–81 | Portland | 77 | 20.3 | .487 | .259 | .854 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.1 | .1 | 13.8 | |
| 1981–82 | Portland | 75 | 0 | 16.4 | .473 | .293 | .787 | 1.4 | 1.5 | .5 | .1 | 11.1 |
| 1982–83 | Washington | 15 | 3 | 18.5 | .411 | .400 | .500 | 1.2 | .9 | .9 | .2 | 7.9 |
| L.A. Lakers | 4 | 0 | 6.8 | .125 | – | .500 | .3 | .0 | .3 | .0 | 1.3 | |
| Career | 187 | 3 | 17.8 | .474 | .303 | 796 | 1.7 | 1.9 | .8 | .1 | 11.7 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Portland | 3 | 34.7 | .525 | .286 | .786 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 1.7 | .3 | 25.0 |
| 1982 | Portland | 3 | 38.3 | .565 | 1.000 | .824 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 1.7 | .3 | 28.3 |
| Career | 6 | 36.5 | .545 | .375 | .806 | 2.8 | 4.2 | 1.7 | .3 | 26.7 | |
| Season | Team | GP | MPG | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Crispa Redmanizers | 49 | 46.2 | 10.9 | 6.1 | 41.7 |
| 1986 | Ginebra San Miguel | 22 | 47.4 | 13.5 | 5.5 | 49.6 |
| 1987 | Ginebra San Miguel | 23 | 46.5 | 15.0 | 5.2 | 54.9 |
| 1988 | Añejo Rum 65 | 4 | 45.0 | 10.8 | 4.0 | 31.2 |
| Career | 4 Seasons | 98 | 46.5 | 12.4 | 5.7 | 46.2 |
