Bass was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the oldest of three siblings; he has a brother, Chris, and sister, Dashia.

[2] Bass attended Capitol High School in Baton Rouge where he began gaining recognition for his play.

He received interest from Connecticut, LSU, Mississippi St., Cincinnati, Kentucky, Miami (FL), and USC to join their basketball programs.

Bass also received many honors while in high school, being named a part of the Parade All-American team, EA Sports Roundball Classic Roster, and the McDonald's All-America Game.

[4] While on the McDonald's All-American Team, Bass played alongside the likes of future NBA superstars such as LeBron James and Chris Paul.

[8] On March 1, 2009, Bass made a turnaround jumper to give Jason Kidd his 10,000th career assist.

On December 12, 2011, Bass was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Glen Davis and Von Wafer.

[11] In his first regular season game for the Celtics on December 25, 2011, he recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 104–106 loss to the New York Knicks.

In the 2011–12 season, Bass established his career-high points average to 12.5 and his rebounds to 6.2 that increased the Celtics' offense and defense.

[14] In January 2015, Bass re-gained his starting spot and finished the season averaging 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

[16] He made his debut for the Lakers in the team's season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 28, recording 2 points and 6 rebounds in a 112–111 loss.

[21] Due to restrictions on international travel, Bass along with teammate Lance Stephenson were unable to return to China in June 2020 to finish the 2019–20 season with the team.