Brandon Bates

Brandon Matthew Bates is a Filipino-Australian basketball player for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Collegiate career
Bates played for De La Salle Green Archers men's basketball team starting in 2018. In his time with La Salle, he was tagged as a "useless center". In the first round of his first season (2019), he only averaged 1.8 points on 36% shooting, on top of 7.2 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 17 minutes of play. He later proved to be a reliable interior defender and rebounder. He scored 10 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocks on an elimination game against UST De La Salle won the game 80–79. Before leaving La Salle, he averaged 8.43 rebounds.

Australia
Bates left La Salle to join the Sutherland Sharks of NBL1 in Australia.

Meralco Bolts
Bates got selected by Meralco Bolts in the 2023 PBA draft as 8th overall, but he did not sign a contract earlier because he wanted to go home to Australia.

Sharing play time in centre position with Raymond Almazan, he was seen as an energizer with a shot-blocking ability. He had 6 blocks and 13 rebounds in the Game 7 semifinal match vs. Ginebra in 2024 PBA Philippine Cup. He helped his team to win the first championship against San Miguel Beermen. His most notable game was playing with flu in Game 5 while guarding June Mar Fajardo. Another notable moment was a dunk in Game 6.

PBA career statistics
As of the end of 2023–24 season

Season-by-season averages

 * align=left |
 * align=left | Meralco
 * 30 || 16.8 || .625 || — || .275 || 5.1 || .4 || .3 || 1.3 || 3.5
 * -class=sortbottom
 * align="center" colspan=2 | Career
 * 30 || 16.8 || .625 || — || .275 || 5.1 || .4 || .3 || 1.3 || 3.5
 * 30 || 16.8 || .625 || — || .275 || 5.1 || .4 || .3 || 1.3 || 3.5

Personal life
Bates worked as a barista while studying in La Salle.