Bobby Jones (basketball, born 1951)

Robert Clyde "Bobby" Jones ( born December 18, 1951 in Charlotte, North Carolina ) is a former American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association and the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. The 2.06 m wide Jones played on the position of the Small Forwards and was considered one of the best defensive players of his generation.

Career

Bobby Jones was a star player at the University of North Carolina, where he scored 14 points and nine assists per game. In the 1972 Olympics Jones played in the Olympic basketball final of the U.S. team against the Soviet Union, in which repeated the referee at the score of 50:49 for the United States the last three seconds three times and won the Soviets at the last second with 51:50. Jones was the silver medal.

In the U.S., there were two competing professional leagues, the established National Basketball Association and the new American Basketball Association. The small but player-friendly ABA was the counter-proposal to the then reactionary, reform unwilling NBA, the players looked as property. Although Jones was drafted by the Houston Rockets at position 1 in the NBA Draft in 1974, he rejected this offer and instead joined the Denver Nuggets of the ABA on. There, Jones became a star by scoring 15 points and 6 rebounds per game, and was impressed with its high union rate of 60% and defense of his hard work. He was considered the only player who could stop the ABA legend Julius Erving, and was instrumental in that the Nuggets in their two years of ABA reached the semi-finals and the final.

After that, the ABA went bankrupt, and the Nuggets played in the NBA from now on. Jones continued his reputation continued to be a reliable team player and was elected eight times in a row team in the All-Defensive. 1978 Jones was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was, remarkably, to the water bearer of his old rival Erving. After the Sixers again and again failed one at either the Los Angeles Lakers of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, the Sixers acquired in 1982 the extremely strong offensive center Moses Malone. To this end, coach Billy Cunningham, Jones decided as a super-sub ( " sixth man " ) to use since Jones coming off the bench worked better than the actual replacement Marc Iavaroni. Jones played this role so well that he was voted the best substitute of the NBA ( Sixth Man of the Year ). The Sixers brought in 1983 in an impressive way the title by sending the Lakers in the finals with a 4-0 home.

Jones played until 1986 when the Sixers, until he announced his departure at the age of 35 years. In gratitude for his services, the Sixers pulled his jersey number 24 back forever.

Personal

After his career Jones returned to Charlotte and devoted himself to coaching at Charlotte Christian School, where he was sports director later. Jones also joined the "Epilepsy Association " and the " Fellowship of Christian Athletes " at. In the new millennium, he founded the charitable organization 2xsalt (to exalt, " stand out " ) that cares for disadvantaged children.

Jones is known for his deeply religious lifestyle. When they asked him once how he would combine Christianity and sporting hardness, he replied: "God gives each person a talent. It would be a sin not to take advantage of this talent to 100 %. " It was because of his principles despite his hard defensive work as a very fair player known, neither unfair played in principle, dirty fouls committed nor cursed. He also refused to tobacco and alcohol consumption and encouraged his colleagues ( with limited success ) to do the same.

686524
de