Renato William Jones (5 October 1906 – 22 April 1981), also known as R. William, or simply William Jones, was a British

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

executive and popularizer of basketball in

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and in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. He held an honorary doctorate from Springfield College.

Biography

Jones was one of the founding fathers of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) in 1932 and served as the first Secretary-General from 1932 until 1976. From 1932 he was eager to convince the IOC that an Olympic tournament should be organized in the 1936 Berlin

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

. After the International Handball Federation (IAHF) renounced on its responsibility for basketball in 1934, FIBA was accepted as autonomous body by IOC and the Berlin tourney could be held under Jones' supervision. Later, he was made secretary general of the International Council of Sport and Physical Education in 1958. He was elected to the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 1964 and the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

in 2007. He was also made a patron of the Amateur Basketball Association of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1973. He was perhaps most widely known for his decision at the

1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was the last game of that year’s Olympic basketball tournament, and became one of the most controversial events in Olympic history. With the ending mired in controversy, the Soviet Union defeated Team US ...

. The United States appeared to have defeated the Soviet Union 50-49 for an unprecedented eighth straight gold medal. However, Jones came out of the stands and ordered the time clock technician to put three seconds back on the game clock. The ruling allowed the Soviet team to score a final basket and win 51-50. He was controversially quoted later as saying "The Americans have to learn how to lose, even when they think they are right." Jones later conceded that he had no authority to make a ruling during a game. However, his power over international basketball was such that the technician complied.

Honorary tournaments

The World Cup for Champion Clubs, FIBA Intercontinental Cup William Jones, and the annual international basketball tournament, the

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promote ...

, held in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

, were named after him, in honour to his contribution to the world of basketball.

In popular culture

*In the 2015 Serbian sports drama ''

We Will Be the World Champions ''We Will Be the World Champions'' ( sr, Бићемо прваци света, Bićemo prvaci sveta) is a 2015 Serbian Sports film, sports drama film directed by Darko Bajić. It was one of six films shortlisted by Serbia to be their submission ...

'', Jones is portrayed by John Savage.Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions
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References

1906 births 1981 deaths FIBA Hall of Fame inductees British referees and umpires Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees British expatriates in Italy William Jones Cup British expatriates in the United States Springfield College (Massachusetts) alumni {{UK-basketball-bio-stub