All Things Basketball with GD - Week 11 Player Spotlight, Sam Jones

Sam Jones: 6'4", 198 lbs (00:31)

Played some small forward & point guard but mostly played shooting guard

Born in Wilmington, NC on June 24, 1933

Went to a historic African American prep school called Laurinburg Institute

Attended a small HBCU school NC College which became NC Central University later

Was a 3 times All-CIAA; coached by Hall of Fame coach John McClendon & Floyd Brown

Spent 4 years there as well as 2 years in the military

Was  initially drafted by Minneapolis Lakers in the 1956 draft during the 8th round but chose to go back to college to get his degree after finishing his military service

Enter Red Auerbach, the BOS coach who was looking to draft a player in the upcoming 1957 draft

Red visited University of NC but was told by another coach about Sam & how good he was

So sight unseen, Red drafted Sam 8th overall of that draft

This shocked Sam to be drafted by a team that had just won a NBA title & just returned 11 of their players

Wanted to become a HS teacher after college & thought he was closer to that dream after being selected by BOS

In fact Sam had an offer from one HS to teach; asked for a $500 increase when offered the position; the school refused & as they say the rest was history

His rookie season was anything but spectacular; averaged only 4.6 PPG & 10.6 MIN & was the 3rd SG behind Bill Sharman & Frank Ramsey

Red was actually preparing him to be the heir apparent to Bill Sharman as BOS starting SG

In his next 2 seasons he played SF coming off the bench with the young KC Jones to form the alliance of the Jones Boys

Red decided to move Ramsey to SF which opened the door to get closer to Sam being the starting SG in future

His big break came in 1960-61 when Sharman had to sit due to injuries; not entirely comfortable being a starter

Began to adjust nicely with a 15 PPG average in his debut as the team's lead SG

In his next 3 seasons he settled into being the position & started becoming a clutch performer, particularly in the playoffs

in 1961-62 where he became an All Star for the 1st time, BOS played PHW to a grueling 7 games in the Eastern Divisional Finals where he hit a game winner over Wilt Chamberlain (Wilt declared Sam as BOS' best player)

Against LAL in the Finals, he scored 5 of the team's 10 pts in OT of Game 7 in the finals to win their 4th straight NBA title

In 1962-63 he averaged 19.7 PPG & a career best 47.6 FG% while upping his game in the playoffs with a 23.8 PPG to help win their 5th straight title

Had his career year in 1964-65 averaging 25.9 PPG (4th in the league) while making his 3rd All Star game; also named to All-NBA 2nd team for the 1st time (behind 1st teamers Oscar Robertson & Jerry West)

BOS finished that season 62-18; had his greatest postseason ever with 28.6 PPG leading to their 7th straight title

Would play another 4 seasons; appearing in 2 more All Star games & won 3 of 4 NBA titles in those years

In his final game fittingly so, he hit the clinching basket for Game 7 in the Finals to beat a Elgin Baylor-Jerry West-Wilt Chamberlain led LAL squad to win his 10th NBA title for BOS

Retired from basketball (1969, age: 36)

Inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame, North Carolina Sports HoF (the 1st African-American to be honored), Naismith HoF & the inaugural American Basketball HoF

Named to the 25th, 50th & 75th NBA Anniversary Teams

Did become a substitute teacher in Maryland for over 30 years

Retired from teaching & moved to St Augustine, FL; died in Boca Raton, FL at the age of 88 on Dec 31, 2021

Statements from the BOS organization, NBA commission Adam Silver & good friend Bill Russell came in honoring Sam

Nickname: Mr Clutch, The Shooter

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/allthingsbasketballwithgd/support

or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/allthingsbbgd