Sam Jones
Teams
Boston Celtics - 1957-69
Playoffs
Appearances - 12 (1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969)
Conference Finals - 12 (1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969)
NBA Finals - 11 (1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1968,1969)
Championships - 10 (1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1968,1969)
Awards and Honors
All-NBA First Team - 0 (1965)
All-NBA Second Team - 3 (1965,1966,1967)
Hall of Fame - 1984
All-Time Ranks
none
League Leads
Points Per Game (#5-1965,1966)
Total Points (#4-1965)
Free Throw Percentage (#5-1967)
Sam Jones played 3 seasons for North Carolina Central before leaving school to join the Army. After his 2 years of military service were completed, he was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 8th round of the NBA Draft, but he decided to return to school for his senior season. After averaging 18.6 points and 10.7 rebounds as a shooting guard, Jones was drafted again, this time in the first round by the defending champion Boston Celtics.
Jones was initially pessimistic about his chances of making the team, who featured star guards Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, and had planned to take a teaching job instead, but when they turned down his request for a higher salary, he decided to try out in Boston. The team was impressed by his hustle and made room for him on the roster.
Jones hardly played as a rookie, averaging only 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds, and the team lost in the NBA Finals, one of only 2 times in Jones' career that he would fail to win a title. His role slowly increased each year, until he finally broke into the starting lineup in his 4th season when Sharman went down with an injury, and he never gave the starting spot back.
In 1961-62, he was named to his first All-Star team after averaging 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds, and he earned his nickname "Mr. Clutch" in the playoffs. In Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, he hit the series-winning shot over Wilt Chamberlain with 2 seconds left to send the Celtics back to the NBA Finals again, and in Game 7 of the Finals, he scored 5 of the team's 10 points in overtime to clinch another title.
He continued to get better and better, reaching his peak in 1964-65, when he scored 25.9 points per game, #4 in the league and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, though I would have put him on the First Team that year. He also had his best playoff run that season, averaging 28.6 points while helping lead the Celtics to their 7th championship in a row.
Jones averaged at least 20 points per game in each of the next 3 seasons and picked up 2 more championships as well. In his final season, Jones again came up clutch in the Finals, when he hit the game-winning shot in Game 4 to tie the series at 2 games apiece, which prevented them from having to play on the road down 3-1, and they went on to win the championship again, #10 for Jones, after which both Jones and Russell retired.
Sam Jones reach the Conference Finals in every single season of his career, missed the NBA Finals only once, and won 10 total championships in 12 seasons, second only to his teammate, Bill Russell, in NBA history, because Russell joined the team a year earlier. Jones was the leading scorer on 3 of the Celtics' title teams, and was one of the best players in the league for several years late in his career, but the biggest reason he is on the list of the all-time greats is the way he always stepped up in the playoffs.
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