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Jimmy Jones (basketball)

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Jimmy Jones
Personal information
Born (1945-01-01) January 1, 1945 (age 80)
Tallulah, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High schoolMcCall (Tallulah, Louisiana)
CollegeGrambling State (1963–1967)
NBA draft1967: 2nd round, 13th overall pick
Drafted byBaltimore Bullets
Playing career1967–1977
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Number15
Career history
1967–1971New Orleans Buccaneers / Memphis Pros
1971–1974Utah Stars
1974–1977Washington Bullets
Career highlights and awards
Career ABA and NBA statistics
Points11,366 (16.3 ppg)
Rebounds2,930 (4.6 rpg)
Assists3,069 (4.5 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

James Jones (born January 1, 1945)[1] is an American former professional basketball player who was a six-time All-Star in the American Basketball Association (ABA), one of only four players to be named an ABA All-Star six times in its nine-year history.

A 6'4" guard born in Tallulah, Louisiana, Jones attended Grambling State University.[1]

Playing career

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Jones was drafted by the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Baltimore Bullets in 1967.[1] Jones was also drafted by the New Orleans Buccaneers in the 1967 ABA Draft. He signed for a three-year contract of $75,000 and a new car.[1][2]

Since he was not a number one draft choice in the NBA, he began his professional career in the rival ABA where he was a number one draft choice, playing seven seasons for the New Orleans Buccaneers/Memphis Pros and Utah Stars. Jones was one of the ABA's best players, averaging 19.2 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.9 rebounds during his seven years in that league. As late as 1974, Jones was thought to be among if not the best guard in the league; Jones believed he was not among the best defensive players at his position but felt his size was comparable.[3]

Desiring a pay raise but playing for a team that was strapped for cash, Jones finally joined the Bullets franchise in 1974, appearing in three seasons before retiring in 1977.

ABA and NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Bold Denotes career highs

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1967–68 New Orleans (ABA) 78 – 41.7 .467 .222 .709 5.7 2.3 – – 18.8
1968–69 New Orleans (ABA) 77 – 41.4 .535* .143 .805 5.7 5.7 – – 26.6
1969–70 New Orleans (ABA) 70 – 35.9 .497 .000 .810 4.5 4.9 – – 20.7
1970–71 Memphis (ABA) 80 – 37.6 .486 .571 .778 4.8 5.9 – – 19.6
1971–72 Utah (ABA) 78 – 37.2 .512 .167 .779 4.8 6.2 – – 15.5
1972–73 Utah (ABA) 80 – 35.6 .523 .000 .799 4.2 5.6 – – 16.7
1973–74 Utah (ABA) 83 – 38.1 .550 .000 .884* 4.3 5.2 1.9 0.4 16.8
1974–75 Washington 73 – 19.5 .518 – .725 5.2 1.9 1.0 0.1 7.1
1975–76 Washington 64 – 17.7 .497 – .766 2.0 1.9 0.5 0.1 5.9
1976–77 Washington 3 – 11.0 .333 – .500 1.3 0.3 0.7 0.0 2.0
Career 686 – 34.2 .509 .250 .785 4.3 4.5 1.2 0.2 16.6

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1968 New Orleans (ABA) 17 – 46.2 .457 .000 .737 6.9 3.3 – – 22.1
1969 New Orleans (ABA) 11 – 40.5 .552 .000 .761 5.3 5.4 – – 30.2
1971 Memphis (ABA) 4 – 32.5 .500 – .680 6.0 3.8 – – 16.3
1972 Utah (ABA) 11 – 39.5 .541 – .714 4.0 6.3 – – 21.0
1973 Utah (ABA) 10 – 31.6 .492 – .795 4.1 4.3 – – 16.3
1974 Utah (ABA) 18 – 41.2 .577 .000 .776 4.8 5.4 1.5 0.3 20.8
1975 Washington 11 – 18.7 .453 – .909 2.0 1.9 1.5 0.1 6.2
1976 Washington 7 – 23.6 .489 – .857 2.0 2.4 1.4 0.0 8.9
Career 89 – 36.2 .517 .000 .758 4.6 4.2 1.5 0.2 18.8

Legacy

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Among the most underrated players of his day, Jones was once called "the most deserving ABA candidate remaining" of players from his ABA playing days to not currently be in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Of the four six-time ABA All-Stars, Jones is the only one not in the Hall as of 2025.[4] In 2013, he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Jimmy Jones page at BasketballReference.com Archived 2009-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Kuska, Bob (2024). Balls of Confusion: Pro Basketball Goes to War (1965-1970). From Way Downtown Publishing. p. 116. ISBN 9798990585102.
  3. ^ https://from-way-downtown.com/2024/06/04/james-jones-best-guard-in-the-aba-1974/
  4. ^ https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41736998/basketball-hall-fame-nba-eligible-next-three-years
  5. ^ https://www.houmatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/06/27/jones-long-wait-for-hall-is-finally-over/27056478007/
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