Bailey Moody

Started: She began playing wheelchair basketball in 2014. (teamusa.org, 23 Aug 2018) Reason: She played basketball, tennis, and softball before switching to wheelchair basketball. "I pretty much tried everything [growing up], and basketball was always the sport that I came back to. It was my first love and just my favourite thing to do. As soon as I got in a chair, I loved it. I've never looked back. I could keep up with everybody else and I didn't have to push twice as hard as everybody else. I could just play the game and do what I loved to do. It was much easier than playing non-Para basketball with a prosthetic leg. It gave me opportunities to do things that I never would have had if I hadn't lost my leg." (herhoopstats.substack.com, 17 Jun 2020; teamusa.org, 23 Aug 2018) Additional Info: TRIBUTE She wears the number 43 shirt as a tribute to her friend Philip Lutzenkirchen, who died in a car accident in 2014. Lutzenkirchen had played American football for Auburn University and supported her after she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Lutzenkirchen's backing encouraged her to start mentoring and encouraging young athletes. "It's just so fun to see how things have come full circle, and how now I have some degree of influence in other people's lives. The level of play that my career is now at, that I can then use the opportunities and remember the impact that Philip had on me and then turn around and try and have that on somebody else and try and bring somebody else along with me." (teamusa.com, 16 Jun 2023)