James Bailey (basketball)

For other people named James Bailey, see James Bailey (disambiguation).

James Bailey
Personal information
Born (1957-05-21) May 21, 1957
Dublin, Georgia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High schoolXaverian Brothers
(Westwood, Massachusetts)
CollegeRutgers (1975–1979)
NBA draft1979: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Drafted bySeattle SuperSonics
Playing career1979–1990
PositionPower forward / center
Number20, 33, 2, 6, 54, 27
Career history
1979–1981Seattle SuperSonics
1981–1982New Jersey Nets
1982–1984Houston Rockets
1984–1986New York Knicks
1986–1987New Jersey Nets
1987–1988Phoenix Suns
1988–1989Glaxo Verona
1990Turboair Fabriano
Career highlights
Career NBA statistics
Points5,246 (8.8 ppg)
Rebounds2,988 (5.0 rpg)
Blocks521 (0.9 bpg)
Stats at NBA.com 
Stats at Basketball Reference 

James L. Bailey (born May 21, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) forward/center from Rutgers University, he was selected with the 6th pick of the 1979 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Nicknamed "Jammin' James," he spent 9 seasons (1979–1988) in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for the Sonics as well as the New Jersey Nets, 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 in the national semi finals, and then lost to UCLA in the 3rd place (consolation) game.

Bailey is number three on the Rutgers all-time scoring list (2,034 points),[1] 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 and The Sporting News 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.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Source[2]

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1979–80 Seattle 67 10.8 .450 – .673 2.9 .4 .3 .8 4.7
1980–81 Seattle 82 31.0 .499 .500 .709 7.4 1.2 .9 1.7 14.0
1981–82 Seattle 10 0 18.0 .477 – .364 4.8 1.3 .3 .7 6.6
New Jersey 67 0 19.2 .523 – .624 5.1 .8 .6 1.1 8.9
1982–83 New Jersey 6 0 8.3 .500 – 1.000 1.0 .3 .2 .2 3.3
Houston 69 39 24.9 .497 .000 .700 6.8 .9 .6 .9 14.1
1983–84 Houston 73 0 16.1 .491 .000 .719 4.0 1.1 .5 .5 8.8
1984–85 New York 74 28 17.5 .447 .000 .676 4.6 .5 .4 .7 5.2
1985–86 New York 48 36 25.9 .456 .000 .772 7.0 1.0 .7 .8 11.1
1986–87 New Jersey 34 2 15.9 .469 – .725 4.0 .6 .4 .7 8.3
1987–88 Phoenix 65 0 13.4 .452 .000 .787 3.2 .6 .3 .4 4.4
Career 595 105 19.5 .484 .077 .703 5.0 .8 .5 .9 8.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1980 Seattle 12 11.5 .477 – .650 2.1 .4 .8 .8 4.6
1982 New Jersey 2 13.0 .333 – 1.000 3.0 .5 1.0 .5 2.0
Career 14 11.7 .468 – .682 2.2 .4 .8 .7 4.2

References

  1. ^ rvc73 (November 21, 2017). "When Rutgers Basketball had a nationally recognized star". On the Banks. Retrieved July 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "James Bailey NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2025.

See also

References

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