The standing-room-only audience in the UVU Grand Ballroom was regaled the morning of Oct. 27 as former Utah Jazz power forward, NBA broadcast analyst, and inspirational speaker Thurl Bailey delivered the opening keynote at the 2023 UVU Conference on Mental Health. Bailey replaced actor and mental health advocate Sean Astin as keynote speaker following Astin’s contraction of COVID-19.

The former Utah Jazz star’s impressive 6”11 frame nearly leapt onto the stage while Bailey, in his trademark baritone, began by singing Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” 热情的观众和贝利一起合唱。

“I’m a big Sean Astin fan,” Bailey said, “but I’m not sure he could have pulled that one off.”

Bailey shared his life journey, from growing up during the civil rights movement in Washington D.C., winning the 1983 NCAA Championship while at North Carolina State University, to playing for the Utah Jazz.  

Bailey called upon the audience to reach out to others by not being afraid to share their life journeys.

“我相信我们每个人都有一个故事，都有一段旅程，”他说。 “And I believe if we could share those experiences, we could help the people who may be struggling. 有时候，有了心理健康问题，你会觉得你是孤身一人。 You think you're struggling like no one else has gone through what you’re going through right now.”

调用

Bailey recounted a childhood memory of him playing basketball with his father, citing that it was this experience that “called” him to become a basketball player.

“有些东西召唤着我们，也许是我们的激情所在。 I was called to wanting to be a basketball player just by sitting next to my dad. The call happens to decide that this is what I want to pursue. And in that pursuit, it's pretty inevitable because nothing comes easy.”

坑

“There's going to be some failure moments and I call (these) failure moments or pit moments,” Bailey said.

Bailey recalled an experience from his high school days where, despite being 6’7, he didn’t make the school basketball team. He described looking at the sheet of paper on the coach’s door, seeing his name absent from the team roster, and running to the bathroom across the hall to cry.

“That was the first time in my life — my young life, my young important life  — that I had really ever felt like I failed at anything.”

Bailey counseled listeners not to be afraid to share their own personal “pit” with others.

 “这是旅程中最艰难的部分。 It's so important to talk about because people are there, and they want to know how you did it. When you're down in that deep part, some people want to stay there. 那里很舒服。 但还是有希望的。 他们一定在寻找什么东西，想要逃出去。”

搜索和发现

贝利分享旅程的最后步骤是他所谓的搜索和发现。

“当你搜索的时间足够长时，你就会找到那些能帮助你发现的人。 当你发现的时候，你得到的最后一件事就是结果。 If you have not had a chance to build that story, write that story. Write down how you were able to get out of that pit while you (were) searching (and) what you discovered along the way. I guarantee you it's going to help so many people to hear the things that you've gone through.”

Bailey concluded his remarks by thanking the UVU audience for the opportunity to share his journey.

“继续你的工作，”他说。 “让我们帮助改变和拯救生命。”

The UVU Conference on Mental Health is an annual conference hosted by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The event features keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and poster presentations that discuss critical mental health topics such as addiction, depression, interpersonal violence, and suicide prevention.