James L. Bailey (born May 21, 1957) is an American former professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player. A 6'9" (2.06 m) forward/
center
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from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
, he was selected with the 6th pick of the 1979
NBA draft by the
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...
. Nicknamed "Jammin' James," he spent 9 seasons (1979–1988) in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
(NBA), playing for the Sonics as well as the
New Jersey Nets
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* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
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* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
,
Houston Rockets,
New York Knicks, and
Phoenix Suns. He ended his NBA career with 5,246 total points.
While at Rutgers, Bailey was a formidable player, displaying a strong inside presence in addition to possessing great leaping ability. He was famous for his conversion of "alley oop" passes into slam dunks. The rule allowing dunking was re-instituted in college basketball beginning with the 1976–77 season, Bailey's sophomore year. Bailey's slam dunks were an immediate sensation at Rutgers, and Bailey led the team with 88 dunks as a sophomore. He increased this number to 116 as a junior. However, as a senior, he was met with constant double and triple teaming, and Rutgers' opponents "held" him to 79 dunks as a senior.
The
Scarlet Knights advanced to the NCAA basketball Final Four in 1976, Bailey's freshman year, arriving with a 31–0 record. However, they were defeated by
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
in the national semi finals, and then lost to
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
in the 3rd place (consolation) game.
Bailey is number three on the Rutgers all-time scoring list (2,034 points),
and second in career rebounds behind
Phil Sellers (1,047). He is also the second leading shot-blocker in Rutgers history behind
Roy Hinson.
Bailey went on to capture All-America honors from
UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
and ''
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'' in 1978.
Bailey's #20 jersey was retired by Rutgers in 1993, and he was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Fame in the same year.
See also
*
References
External links
James Baileyat basketball-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, James
1957 births
Living people
All-American college men's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
Centers (basketball)
Fabriano Basket players
Houston Rockets players
New Jersey Nets players
New York Knicks players
People from Dublin, Georgia
Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball players
Scaligera Basket Verona players
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Xaverian Brothers High School alumni