YOU know, diehard Filipino hoops fans need not be reminded about Billy Ray Bates and his greatness inside the basketball court.
On Monday morning, however, the memory of the eccentric former basketball star came streaming back among US fans when Bates' name cropped up in an 'NBA on TNT' convo among Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Ernie Johnson.
READ Andy Thompson recalls how good Billy Ray Bates was
It all started when Cleveland guard Ty Jerome scored 28 points in his NBA playoffs debut to help the Cavaliers post a runaway 121-100 win over the Miami Heat in the opener of their first-round series.
Jerome's feat, it turned out, put him at fourth among the most prolific off-the-bench playoff debuts, as shown in the NBA on TNT telecast.
LOOK:
As Johnson ran down the names above Jerome on that all-time list, Barkley, seeing Bates' name and apparently knowing how great a player the 'Black Superman' was, exclaimed, 'I certainly remember him.'
But Chuck being Chuck, he followed the line with, "I wonder if Billy Ray is still alive?"
What followed was an awkward silence, and a bit of confusion on the set before Shaq, in his deep baritone voice, butted in to say Bates is dead.
That, of course, was false and netizens were quick to call Shaq out on X, formely Twitter.
LOOK:
The best response, of course, was a clip of that one Bates game in 1980 that showed how good he is, scoring 29 points off the bench in just his 17th NBA game and first in the playoffs in the Blazers' 120-110 loss to the Seattle Supersonics.
WATCH:
Back in the Philippines, fans hold Bates with more reverence after a PBA career that saw the 6-foot-4 high-flyer win two championships with Crispa to complete a grand slam in 1983 and another title with Ginebra in 1986,
To this day, Bates, now 68, is still regarded as the GOAT (greatest of all time) among the imports to play in Asia's pioneering pro league.
READ Is Justin Brownlee already the GOAT among PBA imports?
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