The fallen star that is Billy Ray Bates

No other import has captured the imagination of PBA fans the way Billy Ray Bates did. 

He was an unstoppable force, the local scene’s equivalent of a Julius Erving or even a Lebron James. He could soar majestically for a jumper or a slam over any defender, whether local or reinforcement.

His first 3 tours of duty in the PBA resulted in title finishes, two for Crispa in their 1983 Grand Slam year, and one for Ginebra in 1986, the franchise’s first championship.

To think the Billy Ray who played in the Philippines was not even the best version of himself. The Billy Ray who took the PBA by storm in 1983 was fresh out of rehab and was cut by two NBA teams for reportedly being 25 pounds over his ideal playing weight, among other reasons.  

Yet, he still was a class above everyone else in the PBA, his sheer talent with a basketball in his hand proving enough to compensate for a life of profligacy off the court. 

Bates grew up the second youngest of 9 children in a poor family of sharecroppers working in a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi. His father, a known alcoholic, died when he was 7 years old. 

His youth spent picking cotton and hooking lumber developed his physical strength, which eventually helped him barrel his way to the hoop at the peak of his playing career. He had his first taste of alcohol when he was 10.

He played college basketball at Kentucky State, a major accomplishment considering Bates had the reading ability of an elementary school student. Despite having an impressive run where he averaged over 20 points in his last two years of college ball, NBA scouts hesitated to take a risk on Bates. 

There was no doubt about Bates’ pro-caliber athleticism and skills. But his freewheeling, individualistic style of play was deemed not fit in disciplined, system-based programs in the NBA.

He ended up playing in the second-tier Continental Basketball Association (CBA) with the Maine Lumberjacks in 1978. He won Rookie of the Year honors and the slam dunk competition in the All-Star game while leading the league in scoring. Halfway through his second season in the CBA, he finally received his long-overdue NBA call-up.

Partying, oversleeping

Over 3 decades before Jeremy Lin’s ascendance from obscurity with the New York Knicks, Bates became the original poster boy for Linsanity when he joined the Portland Trailblazers on February 1980.

In just his second game, he dropped 26 points. By March, he was named the NBA Player of the Week. 

Coach Jack Ramsay, who led the Blazers to the NBA title in 1977, was no big fan of Bates, who often forgot designed plays and could not adhere to the team concept. But Bates delivered the goods, so Ramsay had no choice but to field him in. 

In the 1980 playoffs, Bates averaged 25 points even as the Blazers were booted out in the opening round. 

That first season established the legend of Bates in Portland. He endeared himself to Blazer fans who were enamored by his derring-do brand of basketball. In his second season in the NBA, his name became more popular, and so did his reputation for two things: dunking and drinking.

Bates was a picture of inconsistency in his sophomore year as a Blazer. In his element, he could play akin to a superstar and one of the best players in the world, like when he exploded for 35 points in just 25 minutes in a game against Dallas. 

His career-high of 40 points against the Clippers came 3 games after he notched only 4 points in a forgettable outing that showed lack of focus, effort, and energy.

Team insiders were no longer surprised. After all, Bates was known to be out partying even on the eve of Blazer games. He once was said to have missed the first half of a game because he overslept, an allegation which he denied. 

In the 1981 playoffs which resulted in another first round exit for the Blazers, Bates, coming off the bench, scored 28.3 points, still the highest playoff average for a non-starter in Blazer history. 

Despite the impressive numbers and his large fan following, Portland decided it had enough of the unstable ways of Bates. His third NBA season was uneventful as he was cut by the Washington Bullets and the LA Lakers.

He then brought his high-wire act to the Philippines where he earned, during an era which had very limited concept of political correctness, the nickname the “Black Superman.” 

In 49 games with Crispa, he played 46.2 minutes per game and registered 41.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.6 steals. 

Bates was even more impressive in his return in 1986. He normed 49.6 points, 13.5 boards, and 5.5 assists for Ginebra. That was his final taste of basketball glory in the Philippines.

Drunken episode

In 1987, he failed to lead Ginebra to the Reinforced Conference finals. He also lost in the PBA/IBA Slam Dunk contest to future Alaska import Sean Chambers of the LA Jaguars. In the 1988 Reinforced Conference, he was released by Añejo Rhum after just 4 games. 

Bates was convicted of first degree aggravated assault and second degree assault after robbing a gas station in 1998. He was found by the police a few blocks away from the gas station, passed out in drunken stupor, with the amount he stole or what was left of it: $7. He spent 5 years at the Bayside State Prison in New Jersey. 

He was invited by the PBA in 2011 to personally attend his induction to the league’s Hall of Fame. He was supposed to stay 4 days, but decided to check out opportunities in the country. 

Bates was hired as skills coach by the ASEAN Basketball League squad the Philippine Patriots. That gig did not pan out for him. He was fired after he repeatedly showed up reeking of alcohol during team practices. 

In a drunken episode in Cubao, Bates was said to have thrown rocks at a car. He was spared prosecution after the owner decided not to press charges. He was also involved in a mauling incident in a condo in Eastwood provided for him by the Patriots. 

In January of 2013, Bates was finally escorted by Bureau of Immigration agents to the airport. He was forced to leave the Philippines, never again to return to the country which showered him with adulation.

Bates’ story seems straight out of a typical Filipino telenovela where the main character has cornered the world market of misery, a real-life series of unfortunate events. Only in this narrative, it is difficult to classify whether Bates is the protagonist or the villain. 

For the most part, the pitfalls he plunged into were his own doing. The opportunities and second chances given to him were his to optimize, or to waste. For the most part, he chose the latter. – Rappler.com