K. C. Jones Jr. (May 25, 1932 – December 25, 2020) was an American professional

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 (appro ...

player and coach. He is best known for his association with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), with whom he won 11 of his 12 NBA championships (eight as a player, two as an assistant coach, and two as a head coach). As a player, he is tied for third for most NBA championships in a career, and is one of three NBA players with an 8–0 record in NBA Finals series. He is the only African-American coach other than Bill Russell to have won multiple NBA championships, and one of eight players to ever achieve the basketball Triple Crown. Jones was inducted into 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 pre ...

in 1989.

Early life

Jones was born in

Taylor, Texas Taylor is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population at the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census was 16,267, up from 15,191 as of 2010. History In 1876, the Texas Land Company auctioned lots in anticipation of the ar ...

, as the oldest of six children. The initials "K.C." were his given name; he inherited the same name as his father, a factory worker and cook, who himself was named after the fabled railroad engineer Casey Jones. When Jones was aged nine, his parents divorced and he moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, with his mother and two siblings. He learned to play basketball on a patch of gravel. Jones attended Commerce High School in San Francisco where he played basketball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. He considered himself to be a better football player than a basketball player in high school.

College career

Jones played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

and, along with Bill Russell, guided the Dons to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championships in 1955 and 1956. During their time with the Dons, Russell and Jones led the team to a then-record 55-game win streak (including an undefeated 29–0 record during the 1955–56 season) and helped pioneer a play that later became known as the alley-oop. Jones also played with Russell on the United States national team which won the gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, while defeating their opponents by an unsurpassed average margin of 53.5 points per game. Jones served two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1956 to 1958. In July 1958, Jones tried out for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). The Rams had drafted him in the 30th round of the 1955 NFL draft. He decided to try for a football career because he did not know if he had the ability to make it as a professional basketball player. Jones had last played a full season of football during his senior year at Commerce High School and only played in one regulation game afterwards during his stint in the army. Jones planned to report to the Boston Celtics in September if he failed to make the Rams. Playing as a defensive halfback, he was considered a likely candidate to make the team after preseason performances against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and New York Giants. On September 2, Jones decided that he wanted to play for the Celtics and left the Rams.

Professional career

Boston Celtics (1958–1967)

During his playing days, he was known as a tenacious defender. Jones spent all of his nine seasons in the NBA with the

, being part of eight championship teams from 1959 to 1966, retiring after the Celtics' loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1967 Eastern Division finals. He was inducted into the

in 1989. Jones is one of only eight players in basketball history to achieve the basketball Triple Crown — winning an NCAA championship, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal, joining Bill Russell, Magic Johnson,

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

, Clyde Lovellette, Quinn Buckner, and Anthony Davis. In NBA history, only his former teammates Russell (11 championships) and Sam Jones (10) have won more championships during their playing careers.

Coaching career

Jones began his coaching career at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, serving as its head coach from 1967 to 1970. He served as an assistant coach at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1970 to 1971. Jones then reunited with former teammate Bill Sharman as the assistant coach for the 1971–72 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. During that season, the team won a record 33 straight games. He became the first-ever head coach of the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors on August 8, 1972. One week after Jones' only season with the Conquistadors ended with his resignation, he returned to the NBA and agreed with the Baltimore Bullets, who were in the process of relocating to Washington, D.C., to take over for Gene Shue as head coach for the soon-to-be-renamed Capital Bullets on June 18, 1973; the team would add Washington to its name beginning in 1974. During his three years in Washington, the Bullets had a 155–91 win‐loss record and arguably the most talented team in the league. Being swept by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

in the 1975 NBA Finals and a seven-game loss to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in the Eastern Conference semifinals the following year resulted in Jones' contract not being renewed on May 7, 1976. He was replaced by Dick Motta three weeks later on May 28, 1976. In 1983, Jones took over as head coach of the Boston Celtics, replacing Bill Fitch. Jones guided the Larry Bird-led Celtics to championships in 1984 and 1986. Also in 1986, Jones led the Eastern squad in the 1986 NBA All-Star Game in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

at the Reunion Arena, beating the Western squad 139–132. The Celtics won the Atlantic Division in all five of Jones's seasons as head coach and reached the NBA Finals in four of his five years as coach. In a surprise announcement, he retired after the 1987–88 season and was succeeded by assistant coach Jimmy Rodgers. Jones spent one season in the Celtics' front office in 1988–89, then resigned to join the Seattle SuperSonics as an assistant coach and basketball consultant for the 1989–90 season. He served as head coach of the Sonics in 1990–91 and 1991–92. In 1994, Jones joined the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

as an assistant coach for one season. The Pistons' head coach at that time, Don Chaney, had previously played for Jones with the Celtics. Jones was also considered to once again coach the Celtics during the off-season in 1995. In 1996, Jones returned to the Boston Celtics, this time as an assistant coach for one season. Jones returned to the professional coaching ranks in 1997, guiding the New England Blizzard of the fledgling women's American Basketball League (1996–1998) through its last seasons of existence. The Blizzard made the playoffs in his second year as head coach, but they were summarily dispatched by the San Jose Lasers.

Personal life

Jones married Beverly Cain – the sister of his Olympic teammate Carl Cain – in 1959; they had five children together before they divorced. He had a sixth child with his second wife, Ellen. His son, Kipper, played as a guard at Bentley College. His daughter, Bryna, received a basketball and volleyball scholarship to attend the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Death

Jones died on December 25, 2020, at an assisted living center in Connecticut, aged 88. He had

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

NBA career statistics

Source:

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

Source: , - , style="text-align:left;",

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

(ABA) , style="text-align:left;", 1972–73 , 84, , 30, , 54, , .357, , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Western, , 4, , 0, , 4, , .000 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Division semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;", Capital , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 47, , 35, , .573, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Central, , 7, , 3, , 4, , .429 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;", Washington , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 60, , 22, , .732, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Central, , 17, , 8, , 9, , .471 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, - , style="text-align:left;", Washington , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 48, , 34, , .585, , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Central, , 7, , 3, , 4, , .429 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference semifinals , - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 62, , 20, , .756, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Atlantic, , 23, , 15, , 8, , .652 , style="text-align:center;", Won NBA Championship , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 63, , 19, , .768, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Atlantic, , 21, , 13, , 8, , .619 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 67, , 15, , .817, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Atlantic, , 18, , 15, , 3, , .833 , style="text-align:center;", Won NBA Championship , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 59, , 23, , .720, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Atlantic, , 23, , 13, , 10, , .565 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 57, , 25, , .695, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Atlantic, , 17, , 9, , 8, , .529 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference finals , - , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 41, , 41, , .500, , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Pacific, , 5, , 2, , 3, , .400 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in First round , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 36, , 18, , 18, , .500, , style="text-align:center;", (fired), , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", — , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", NBA career , , , 774, , 522, , 252, , .674, , , , 138, , 81, , 57, , .587 , style="text-align:center;", — , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", ABA career , , , 80, , 30, , 54, , .357, , , , 4, , 0, , 4, , .000 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Total career , , , 858, , 552, , 306, , .643, , , , 142, , 81, , 61, , .570

Awards and honors

*Two-time NCAA Champion *1956 Olympic Gold Medal winner *12-time NBA Champion (eight as a player, two as a head coach, two as an assistant coach) *"Triple Crown" (NCAA, NBA, Olympic champion) winner *Five-time NBA All-Star Game head coach *

(class of 1989) * College Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2006) * U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame (class of 1986 – as a member of the 1956 U.S. men's basketball team) *2016 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award

References

External links

*
NBA.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, K.C. 1932 births 2020 deaths African-American basketball coaches All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American Basketball League (1996–1998) coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Williamson County, Texas Basketball Triple Crown winners Boston Celtics assistant coaches Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics head coaches Boston Celtics players Brandeis Judges men's basketball coaches Capital Bullets head coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Detroit Pistons assistant coaches Harvard Crimson men's basketball coaches Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NBA championship–winning head coaches NBA players with retired numbers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Taylor, Texas Point guards San Diego Conquistadors coaches San Francisco Dons men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics assistant coaches Seattle SuperSonics head coaches United States men's national basketball team players Washington Bullets head coaches New England Blizzard 21st-century African-American sportsmen