The NBA is mourning this Friday, Christmas Day, when the death is confirmed at the age of 88 legendary KC Jones, Player and coach of the Boston Celtics.
The information was confirmed by the Celtics, a team with which he played nine seasons in the World Cup NBA, i win titles in eight of them, The third highest number in league history, just behind his legendary teammates Bill Russell (11) and Sam Jones (10).
This success moved back to his days as a coach, when he won three titles (one as an assistant and two as a coach) during the Boston success streak in the 1980s with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. of protagonists, considered like the best one in the history of the NBA.
Although he always remained in the background of both player and coach, Jones, affectionately called “C” as a champion symbol, nor were his statistics striking, he barely got an average of 7.4 points in his career, his work as a baseman on the field has always been key, especially in the defensive section.
Jones was the consummate team player whose defense always caused serious problems to rival stars like Jerry West and Oscar Robertson and the way he played made the Celtics engine work.
“I didn’t see a man who shot as badly in the basket as KC could stay in the NBA,” recalled the legendary Bob Cousy, the famous Celtics home base that Jones initially supported and then replaced as a starter. when “Cooz” retired in 1963.
Cousy said everyone was wrong with Jones when it came to assessing the qualities he had, which turned out to be amazing on defense, and he finally learned to score enough so that rival teams couldn’t afford to do not mark it.
Jones was part of title-winning teams with the Celtics from 1959 to 1966, an unparalleled eight-year streak in professional sports.
The only season in which he did not win a championship was 1966-1967, and shortly after, Jones, at 34, retired.
But Jones remained in the competition, first as a coach at Brandeis University on the outskirts of Boston and then as an assistant or head coach in the NBA or ABA before returning to the Celtics as an assistant to the legendary Bill Fitch in 1977.
Fitch left the team for four years. later, and Jones replaced him, inheriting a group led by Bird and his fellow Hall of Fame McHale and Parish.
Three weeks after Jones took over, the Celtics made a move to acquire Dennis Johnson at the base, who would be key in the resurgence of the Boston team.
Together, they reached the NBA Finals four consecutive seasons (1984-1987), winning titles in 1984 and 1986. Jones’ relaxed training style was criticized by some, but his players welcomed him. , especially the great leader of the team, the legendary Bird, who always showed great respect as a professional and person.
Jones stopped coaching the Celtics after the 1987 season, and moved to the Celtics head office before finishing his coaching career with the Seattle SuperSonics and Detroit Pistons.
The Celtics decided to withdraw his number 25 and he was also included in the Basketball Hall of Fame in the 1989 class.
Jones, a Texas native, trained alongside Russell at the University of San Francisco, winning consecutive NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956.
In the summer after the second title, the two led the United States national team to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (Australia).
Jones is also just one of seven players to win college and NBA basketball titles, as well as Olympic gold, joining Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Jerry Lucas, Quinn Buckner and Clyde Lovellette.