Bates played four seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Bullets, and Los Angeles Lakers.
[2] He ended up playing for the Maine Lumberjacks in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association, where he won the league's Rookie of the Year and the slam dunk competition in its All-Star game.
[3] After signing a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers in February 1980, the high-flying 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 210 lb (95 kilograms) guard quickly became a crowd favorite for his slam dunks and energetic playing style.
Although he thrilled fans with his aerial exploits, the league's yearbook said he was a great rebounder and dunker, but noted that those skills were not needed for his position.
He then had a 10-day trial with the Lakers (where he supposedly dunked on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar[citation needed]) and appeared in four games,[5] but at 25 pounds (11 kg) overweight, that didn't work out either.
In his first game with the Crispa Redmanizers, Bates immediately grabbed the limelight and thrilled the crowd with a spectacular display of inside and outside moves against the league powerhouse, Great Taste Coffee.
In that game, Bates would go up against PBA legend Norman Black and exploded for 64 points on 20–25 two-point shots (80%), 5–6 three-point attempts (83%), and 9–10 free throws (90%), along with 12 rebounds and five assists.
Bates would display an accurate jumper even from 3-point range, a muscular upper body to physically match up and intimidate the skinnier/taller opponents, and a mean game from the paint punctuated by his favorite arsenal, the slam-dunk.
His natural ability to hang in the air longer than any defender and at the last instance powerfully slam the ball into the rim brought the shot to the next level.
Bates's scoring ability and flamboyant showmanship plus a charismatic, outgoing personality endeared him to the basketball-watching Filipino public and the media.
Bates was so flattered big time with this endorsement that he was spreading the word back home in Mississippi about his success in the Philippines, even having a pair of rubber shoes named after him.
But being out of shape, he played in only four games and both players were eventually replaced by the high scoring duo of Joe Ward and Tommy Davis.
In Billy Ray's four seasons in the PBA for Crispa and Ginebra, he averaged the all-time league-high of 46.2 points in 98 career games.
His Filipino teammates vividly recall times when Bates downed a couple of beers in the locker room before tip-off.
On January 17, 1998, Bates robbed a New Jersey Texaco station at knifepoint, slashing the ear of attendant Philip Kittel.
During his stay, he has taken part in classes designed to mend damaged cognitive skills, ready himself for the workplace and learn how to manage his emotions.
Citing confidentiality laws, Captain Carol Austin only indirectly acknowledged Bates' involvement, saying the last she heard from him he was headed to Portland in 2008.
After being released, Bates lived in two places, a friend's apartment in Manhattan and his wife's home in North Brunswick, New Jersey.
During the prison sentence, Bates wrote his autobiography titled Born to Play Basketball in ink and pencil on 714 pages of yellow legal paper, front to back.
Mako liked Bates' honesty about his past and booked the ex-pro on a three-day, three-night NBA and NFL Speakers Cruise in February 2009 to the Bahamas.
In 2009, Bates worked for a big grocery supplies chain, then as a floor technician in the 6 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. shift with the Colgate recycling company in New Jersey.
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".