KC Jones, who was a big winner as a Boston Celtics player and coach during a Hall of Fame race, suffered Friday, the Celtics confirmed. He was 88 years old.
KC was Jones’ first name, although some joked that “C” meant championships. It was easy to see why.
He played nine seasons in the NBA, all with the Celtics, and won titles in eight of them, the third-highest in league history, behind only 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, two as a head coach) during the Boston success streak in the 1980s with Larry Bird and company.
Jones also won an assistant coaching title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972.
Jones was not flashy and his days as a player were not full of flashy statistics; averaged just 7.4 points in his career. But the 6-foot-1 base was the consummate defensive team player gave headaches to rival stars like Jerry West and Oscar Robertson and the way he created plays made the Celtics engine work.
” I just didn’t see a man shooting as bad as KC could stay in the NBA, ” recalled Bob Cousy, the famous Celtics starting baseman whom Jones initially supported and then replaced as a starter when. Cooz “retired in 1963.” I really didn’t think his other skills would be enough to keep him in the league. But he was wrong. He turned out to be amazing on defense and eventually learned to score enough for rival teams. they could not afford not to defend- ”.
Jones was part of the Celtics team that won the title 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 Jones, at 34, retired shortly afterwards.
But Jones remained in the game, 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 Bill Fitch in 1977. he left the team four years later, and Jones replaced him, inheriting a group led by Bird and his Hall of Fame teammates Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Three weeks after Jones took over, the Celtics made a move to acquire Dennis Johnson.
Together they reached the NBA Finals four seasons in a row (1984-1987), winning titles in 1984 and 1986. Some criticized Jones’ relaxed coaching style, but his players welcomed him.
“He has our respect as a coach and as a person,” Bird once said.
Jones left the Celtics bench after the 1987 season, and worked in the Celtics head office before finishing his coaching career in Seattle and Detroit.
His No. 25 is retired by the Celtics and was exalted in the Hall FAMA of the Professional Basketball in 1989.
A native of Texas, Jones competed with Russell at the University of San Francisco, winning consecutive NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956. The summer after the second title, the two led the U.S. team to a medal in gold at the Melbourne Olympics.
To date, Jones is just one of eight players to win college and NBA basketball titles, as well as Olympic gold, alongside Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Jerry Lucas, Quinn Buckner, Clyde Lovellette and Anthony Davis.