Boston Celtics Hall of Fame KC Jones dies at 88

Legendary Basketball players KC Jones, an Olympic gold medalist and two times NCAA champion and the one who clinched eight NBA titles with Celtics and further went on to coach them with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish for two Championship in 1980 has died at the age of 88.

The news was confirmed by Celtics organisers who stated that Jones family confirmed that he is no more and passed away due to Alzheimer’s disease which he was suffering from for several years.

“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.”

He also belongs to the category of those seven players who have achieved three big feats when it comes to basketball which includes Olympics, NCAA championship, and NBA title. When it comes to winning Championship for the Celtics he was behind Russell and Sam Jones.

“Where K. C. Jones went, winning was sure to follow,” the Celtics said in a statement before their Christmas Day game against the Brooklyn Nets.

“K. C. also demonstrated that one could be both a fierce competitor and a gentleman in every sense of the word. He made his team-mates better, and he got the most out of the players he coached,” the team said. “Never one to seek credit, his glory was found in the most fundamental of basketball ideals — being part of a winning team.”

He was the third Hall of Famer from the 1965 Championship to die this year after John Thompson and Tommy Heinsohn who passed away in August and November 2020 respectively. Jones who retired from NBA in 1967 was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of fame in 1989.