Thurl Lee Bailey Sr. (born April 7, 1961) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player whose

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) career spanned from 1983 to 1999 with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

and the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. Bailey has been a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

— in addition to work as an inspirational speaker, singer, songwriter, and film actor. Bailey garnered the nickname "Big T" during his basketball career.

Basketball career

Bailey attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

and was a leader in the Wolfpack's miracle run to the 1983 NCAA Championship. That year, under head coach

Jim Valvano James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at NC State. Whi ...

, he led the Wolfpack in both scoring and rebounding. The

selected him as the 7th pick of the 1983 NBA draft. Jazz management reported that he was selected for the quality of his character, as well as the quality of his game. This was the beginning of 16 years of playing professional basketball, with 12 of those years in the NBA. Bailey's career-high points game came on March 14, 1988, when he scored 41 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a 116–115 win over the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. Bailey was a starter with the Jazz for most of his first two seasons, but with the drafting of

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spen ...

, Jazz coach

Frank Layden Francis Patrick Layden (born January 5, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American former basketball coach and executive of the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz as well as former head coach of the Women's National Basketball Associati ...

made Bailey one of the first options off the bench. As a result, Bailey had his two finest NBA seasons in 1987–88 (19.6 ppg, played in all 82 games and started ten times) and 1988–89 (19.5 ppg, 82 games, three starts). Both seasons saw him finish second in the Sixth Man of the Year voting. During Bailey's Utah tenure, he played in 665 games, missing only four games in which he was eligible to play. On November 25, 1991, he was traded by the Jazz along with a 1992 second-round draft pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for

Tyrone Corbin Tyrone Kennedy Corbin (born December 31, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who last worked as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. He was first appointed the assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns, then was named th ...

. Bailey holds the unusual distinction of playing 84 combined regular-season games during the 1991–92 season for both teams. He played for almost three seasons in Minnesota, until 1994, when he left the NBA and played in the Greek League (playing for

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

) for the 1994–95 season.Thurl Bailey NBA.com bio
From 1995 to 1998, he played in the Italian League for Polti Cantù in 1995–97 and Stefanel Milano in 1997–98, before returning to the Jazz as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on January 21, 1999. He retired after the end of the 1998–99 season.

Career after the NBA

Bailey is a

public speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

, a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the

, an actor, and a singer/songwriter. Bailey's albums include ''Faith In Your Heart'' (1998), ''The Gift of Christmas'' (2001), and ''I'm Not the Same'' (2002). Bailey is chairman of Big T Productions, Fertile Earth (which has a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

pending on a fertilizer that works through

irrigation sprinkler An irrigation sprinkler (also known as a water sprinkler or simply a sprinkler) is a device used to irrigate (water) agricultural crops, lawns, landscapes, golf courses, and other areas. They are also used for cooling and for the control of airb ...

systems), and FourLeaf Films. He works with various charities, including Make-A-Wish, D.A.R.E., and the Happy Factory.

Coaching career

Bailey continues to coach in the Salt Lake City area using the private coaching service, CoachUp.

Politics

Bailey gave the opening

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

at the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's convention fell on Labo ...

Personal life

Bailey was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in a high-crime neighborhood of Capitol Heights, Maryland bordering D.C. Bailey is the father of six children. He has a daughter, Chonell, with his high school sweetheart and two sons, Thurl Jr., and TeVaun from his first marriage. Bailey and his wife, Sindi (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Southwick), live in Highland, Utah with their three children BreElle, Brendan, and Bryson. His son Brendan played basketball at Marquette.

Religion

Bailey was raised

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

. While playing basketball in Italy, Bailey decided to join

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. He was baptized on December 31, 1995.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 81, , 54, , 24.8, , .512, , –, , .752, , 5.7, , 1.6, , .5, , 1.5, , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80, , 68, , 31.0, , .490, , 1.000, , .842, , 6.6, , 1.7, , .6, , 1.2, , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82, , 13, , 28.8, , .448, , .000, , .830, , 6.0, , 1.9, , .5, , 1.4, , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81, , 2, , 26.6, , .447, , .000, , .805, , 5.3, , 1.3, , .5, , 1.1, , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82, , 10, , 34.2, , .492, , .333, , .826, , 6.5, , 1.9, , .6, , 1.5, , 19.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82*, , 3, , 33.9, , .483, , .400, , .825, , 5.5, , 1.7, , .6, , 1.1, , 19.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82*, , 33, , 31.5, , .481, , .000, , .779, , 5.0, , 1.7, , .4, , 1.2, , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82*, , 22, , 30.3, , .458, , .000, , .808, , 5.0, , 1.5, , .6, , 1.1, , 12.4 , - , rowspan="2";style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 13*, , 0, , 25.2, , .386, , .000, , .800, , 6.0, , 1.5, , .4, , 1.2, , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, style="background:#cfecec;", 71*, , 18, , 25.0, , .448, , .000, , .795, , 5.7, , .8, , .4, , 1.4, , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70, , 3, , 18.2, , .455, , –, , .838, , 3.1, , .9, , .3, , .7, , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79, , 3, , 16.4, , .510, , –, , .799, , 2.7, , .7, , .3, , .7, , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 43, , 0, , 12.6, , .446, , .000, , .735, , 2.2, , .6, , .2, , .7, , 4.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 928 , , 229 , , 26.8 , , .473 , , .114 , , .812 , , 5.1 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , 1.2 , , 12.8

Playoffs

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1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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, 11 , , , , 30.9 , , .515 , , .000 , , .810 , , 5.5 , , .9 , , .2 , , 1.0 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 37.5 , , .408 , , – , , .818 , , 9.2 , , 2.7 , , .5 , , 1.8 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

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, 4 , , 4 , , 36.8 , , .364 , , .000 , , .727 , , 8.0 , , 3.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 30.2 , , .476 , , – , , 1.000 , , 6.0 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , 1.2 , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 0 , , 40.8 , , .488 , , .000 , , .838 , , 5.7 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 2.1 , , 23.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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, 3 , , 2 , , 40.7 , , .353 , , – , , .800 , , 8.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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, 5 , , 5 , , 38.0 , , .489 , , – , , .792 , , 6.4 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , 21.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

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, 9 , , 0 , , 25.3 , , .359 , , – , , .880 , , 3.6 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .7 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 0 , , 10.5 , , .515 , , – , , .750 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , .3 , , .5 , , 3.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 69 , , 21 , , 30.7 , , .449 , , .000 , , .834 , , 5.5 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , 1.2 , , 13.5

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Historical Player Profile
at

NBA.com The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

*
Thurl Bailey Talks about His Life Purpose
video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Thurl Bailey — Former NBA player — Discussion 59
interview on the Mormon Channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Thurl 1961 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American male film actors American men's basketball players Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Converts to Mormonism from Baptist denominations Latter Day Saints from North Carolina Latter Day Saints from Utah Lega Basket Serie A players Minnesota Timberwolves players NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Olimpia Milano players Pallacanestro Cantù players Panionios B.C. players Power forwards Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players 20th-century American sportsmen