#nba Thurl Bailey pic.twitter.com/6uRF3KOqe3
— NBAmortal (@mortalNBA) June 5, 2015
5) Thurl Bailey and Len “Truck” Robinson (Tie)
Right off the bat, we have a dilemma. Do you include the team’s five-year stint in the Big Easy when compiling this kind “best-ever” list? By most accounts, not much good happened outside of “Pistol” Pete Maravich playing the role of the game’s ultimate showman. Furthermore, what role does longevity play in the equation?
While these are both factors, myself and some of the other Purple & Blues contributors that compiled this list still couldn’t overlook what Truck Robinson did in a Jazz uniform.
Although he appeared in just 125 games with the New Orleans Jazz from 1977 to 1979, he was arguably the league’s best power forward during that time.
During the 1977-78 campaign, his only full season with the club, he registered one of the more impressive statistical seasons ever by a Jazzman. Robinson averaged just under 23 points and led the NBA in rebounding with nearly 16 per game, as well as minutes played at an incredible 44.4 per game.
Robinson was named an All-Star and All-NBA First Team player that year.
So, Truck comes in at No. 5 — unbelievable numbers and an open and shut case, right? Not so fast.
Although Robinson was brilliant during his short Jazz tenure, Thurl Bailey was a star in the league and a crucial piece to the Jazz for nearly a decade. Big T could have started for just about every other team in the league throughout the 80s, but ended up playing second fiddle to arguably the greatest power forward of all-time instead.
Still, the man in the goggles was a cornerstone piece to the Jazz as they transitioned from bottom-feeders to title contenders. He had back-to-back seasons in which he averaged nearly 20 points per game (19.5 and 19.6 ppg in 1987-88 and ’88-89 respectively) and in 708 games in a Jazz uniform, averaged 14 points and nearly six rebounds per game.
After being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the early 90s, Big T returned to finish his career with Utah in 1998-99.
Ultimately, both Bailey and Robinson did great things for the Jazz franchise and each deserves a spot in this list.
Jazz Stats, Robinson: 125 GP, 23.2 PTS, 14.9 REB, 2.0 AST, 43.4 MIN ; Bailey: 708 GP, 14.0 PTS, 5.5 REB, 1.2 BLK
Next: Derrick Favors Comes in at No. 4