Celtics legend K. C. Jones dies at 88
Hall of Famer won two NCAA titles and eight NBA crowns with Russell.
BOSTON — Basketball Hall of Famer K. C. Jones, an Olympic gold medalist and two- time NCAA champion who won eight consecutive NBA titles during the Celtics’ Bill Russell era and then coached the Boston teams with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to two more championships in the 1980s, has died. He was 88.
The Celtics said Jones’ family confirmed that he died Friday at an assisted living facility in Connecticut, where he had been receiving care for Alzheimer’s disease.
“K. C. was the nicest man I ever met. He always went out of his way to make people feel good; it was such an honor to play for him,” Bird said in a statement. “His accomplishments are too many to list, but, to me, his greatest accomplishment was being such an outstanding person to all who had the privilege of knowing him. I will miss him dearly.”
Jones is one of seven players in history to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA championship and an NBA title. He won two more NBA crowns as an assistant coach and was the Celtics’ coach when they went to the NBA Finals four straight years from 1984 to ’ 87, winning it all in 1984 against the Lakers and again two years later with a team that won 67 regularseason games and went 15- 3 in the postseason.
Only Russell and fellow Celtics teammate Sam Jones won more NBA championships as players.
“Where K. C. Jones went, winning was sure to follow,” the Celtics said in a statement before their game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Jones is the third Hall of Famer from the 1965 NBA champions to die this year: John Thompson, who went on to greater success as the coach at Georgetown, died in August, and Celtics player and coach Tommy Heinsohn died last month. Two days after observing a moment of silence for Heinsohn before their season opener, the Celtics had another for Jones on Friday.
“He was a great coach to work for. He was a class act, and yet he had this competitive edge that was f ierce,“said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who played for the team from 1981 to ’ 88, when Jones was an assistant and then coach.
A point guard who excelled on defense and averaged 7.4 points and 4.3 assists in the NBA, Jones joined Russell to lead San Francisco to back- to- back NCAA championships in 1955 and ’ 56. The two also played on the U. S. team that won the 1956 Olympic gold medal.
“Friends for life,” Russell posted on Twitter, along with what he said was their last photo together.