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/

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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

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, 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

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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

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and ''

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'' 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.

References

External links

James Bailey
at 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

See also

References

External links