After Timberwolves practice Thursday, guard Jerryd Bayless was set to get a massage and go home, but his work wasn't done for the day.
"I have a paper due on [Saturday]," Bayless said. "I'll get a massage and I'll go knock that out. It's a short paper, only five pages."
That paper represents one of the final steps Bayless is taking toward a goal that began when he enrolled at the University of Arizona in 2007 — getting his degree in African-American studies.
After arriving three months ago from Philadelphia as a seeming afterthought in the Jimmy Butler trade, Bayless has been a revelation of late on the court. He has helped the Wolves overcome a rough stretch in their season where injuries have sidelined three point guards: Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and Tyus Jones.
You might not know he is doing this while taking 12 credits to complete work on a degree he began nearly 12 years ago at Arizona before leaving to pursue the NBA after his freshman year. It provides a glimpse into the type of person Bayless is — someone who is a voracious reader, who is in touch with the world outside of the whirring basketball bubble the NBA can be, and someone who has an appetite for history and seeing how that affects society now.
"This was always the goal," Bayless said. "I left after my freshman year, but … I knew I had to do it. It was just a matter of when I was going to do it."
Chipping away
If you look at Bayless' Twitter account, you will see his varied interests on display. He links to articles he has read — with most coming from the New York Times, which Bayless, 30, reads every morning. The articles range from topics like Sudan, the environment and President Donald Trump. He is especially fond of a feature the Times does that details how notable people spend their Sundays.
"I'm trying to get on it," Bayless said with a laugh. "They won't put me on it."