Player Bio

Darius Denayr Bazley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in June of 2000. Bazley started his high school hoops career at Finneytown High School in Springfield Township, Ohio. After a transfer, he eventually starred for Cincinnati's Princeton High School basketball club, earning Ohio Division 1 All-State First Team and All-Ohio USA Today First Team honors as a senior. Bazley enjoys listening to Earth, Wind and Fire. His favorite movie is "Green Book", and he is a big fan of the Houston Texans. Bazely enjoys watching HGTV and considers interior decorating his hidden talent. Follow him on Instagram (@dariusbazley). Bazley's journey to the NBA was an unconventional one. He originally committed to play at Syracuse as a five-star recruit out of high school before electing to bypass college and play in the G League. He then elected to bypass the G League and interned at New Balance to go with an endorsement deal. As an 18-year-old at 6-foot-8 with a seven-foot wingspan, Bazley boasts the frame of a prototypical versatile forward for today's NBA. He also averaged 15.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks during his senior season at Princeton High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. That intriguing combination of size and high-school production led the Thunder, via a trade with the Jazz, to select Bazley with the 23rd overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft.