Emoni Bates is a basketball player. He's also only 13-years-old. There are a lot of kids his age who play the shooty hoops. However, there is a monumental difference between him and my nephew down the road. Emoni Bates is having his basketball journey being told by the AP.

Again, he is 13. He's probably not even shaving yet.

This is not a one-off. The AP already has a few stories up on the kid and plans do to several others. In fact, it has an entire section of its website dedicated to the near preteen. It is ironically tagged as “The Kid.”

For what it is worth, it is still too early to tell how big of a reach these stories will have. When the AP made the announcement on Twitter that it would be doing this series, the reaction was somewhat underwhelming.

As of this writing, there are currently two stories on Bates at the site, as well as a photo gallery. There are no caveats or disclaimers about potentially taking advantage of a kid for clicks, though.

This is a tricky conversation to have, obviously. Only being 13, there is zero way Emoni Bates can make adult decisions for himself. He's not yet mentally mature enough to realize if giving up his childhood for the sake of an outlet being able to tell a story is worth it or not.

I feel gross. Do you feel gross? This all seems very gross.

The AP has stated that his family did invite them to follow his journey. Maybe they reached out first. And maybe, just maybe, the AP should have said “Nah, bruh. We're good.”