K. C. Jones

KC Jones ( born May 25, 1932 in Taylor, Texas ) is a former American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics and the Washington Bullets basketball coach, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Celtics of the National Basketball Association. With eight NBA championships as a player and two as a coach, he is one of the most successful personalities in the history of this association.

Playing career

Born as KC Jones ( his full name ) in a poor family who moved in search of work from Texas to San Francisco, Jones was an outstanding athlete who ultimately decided against American football and basketball. The talented point guard ( Guard ) received a scholarship for the University of San Francisco and was roommate of center Bill Russell. Together they came to the United States Olympic gold in 1956. When Russell could be pod judge in the same year by coach Red Auerbach to the Boston Celtics, they parted ways, but in 1958 Jones was also drafted to the Celtics after serving in the U.S. military service.

There, Jones was first substitute of the legendary Celtics playmaker Bob Cousy and was together with his namesake Sam Jones ( the stand-in for distance thrower Bill Sharman ) the replacement point guard pair. Four years was Jones Cousys deputy, and won as a replacement all four championships from 1959 until 1962.

After Sharman in 1961 and 1962 Cousy stopped, they were followed by the " Jones Brothers" KC Jones and Sam Jones, and became also one of the most feared Guard pairs in the league. While Sam Jones was responsible for the points, KC Jones took care of the defensive hardness. Although he in his career just 7.4 points and 4.3 assists per game scored (both just half of Cousys Statistics ), his influence on the game was considerable. Because Jones became one of the most feared defenders of the League and contributed with his hard defense to the fact that opposing Star Guards like Oscar Robertson or Jerry West could hardly unfold against the Celtics. With a team that some of the most effective defenders of the 1960s contained ( center Bill Russell, Winger Tom Sanders and John Havlicek and KC Jones), the Celtics won every year until 1966, the NBA championship. In the last year of Jones ' career, the Celtics were defeated in 1967 for the first time in eight years, and Jones ended at the age of 35 years, his playing career in the only (!) Year of his career without NBA title. In appreciation of his services his jersey number 25 will never forgive since the Celtics.

1989 Jones was taken for his career performance in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

As a coach, Jones was also successful. He led the Celtics team of the 1980s under superstar Larry Bird to two league titles in 1984 and 1986, before he stopped at the age of 59 years. His teams won 556 of their 802 games.