Rumors

You were selected 13th in the 1963 Draft by a really great Lakers team that was just off a Finals loss. As a rookie joining that team with championship expectations, how challenging was that for you? Jim King: “It was a very challenging thing. In those days the Phillips 66ers was right outside of Tulsa. They had their own team and were the AAU champions. They had offered me a contract to come up there, and what you would do, you want to get paid for playing, so you got paid for working for Phillips 66. And I thought well, if I don’t make the pros I’ll come back here. He told me no, per NCAA rules if you try out for a pro team you are not eligible for any other amateur league. So I would’ve had to go to Europe, that put a little pressure on me. I had to decide if I thought I could make it or not, or I was through.” “So I went to the GM and I said I want a no-cut contract and he said ‘we don’t give no-cut contracts’. I said okay, can you tell me what you want me to do and he said ‘well, I’ll tell you what, If you can get the ball and bring it down the floor against the other tough guards so Jerry West doesn’t have to, you may make the team. If you can cover the Sam Jones’s and the Oscar Robertson’s of the league so Jerry doesn’t have to, you’ve got a chance to make the team’ so I took the contract, $9,500 and a $500 check for a bonus, but I had to go out and make the team.”

The Hooper Holler

Jorge Sierra: Jayson Tatum tied Kobe Bryant in playoff three-pointers before sadly going down to injury. He's No. 11 all-time now. He also moved ahead of 10-time NBA champion Sam Jones in scoring for No. 34, passed Paul Pierce in rebounds for No. 54 and tied Sam Cassell in assists at No. 50.

bsky.app

Jorge Sierra: Paul George passed Jeff Hornacek in steals yesterday. He's No. 45 all-time now. Also: Tobias Harris passed Sam Jones and Kevin Love in scoring for No. 147 in NBA history. Those two combine for 10 All-Stars.

Twitter

Jorge Sierra: Possibly not the biggest news of the night, but DeMar DeRozan passed Ray Allen in scoring for No. 28 in NBA history. Also: Devin Booker moved ahead of Sam Cassell (No. 136) and Nikola Jokic did the same with Sam Jones and Kevin Love (No. 145).

bsky.app

Jorge Sierra: Jonas Valanciunas is No. 69 in rebounds all-time after moving ahead of PJ Brown last night. Also: Devin Booker passed Sam Jones and Kevin Love for No. 144 in the scoring list.

Twitter

Other than 85-year-old Satch Sanders, who did not come on board until 1960, all of the men who were with Cooz at the beginning of the Celtic dynasty are gone. Red Auerbach died in 2006. Bill Russell died two summers ago. Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, and John Havlicek have all died since 2019. Cousy is enjoying these playoffs. “I will take great pride in seeing this,” he said. “This puts us back ahead of the Lakers. To have been a part of that is as good a legacy as I could hope for.”

Boston Globe

Of course, a lot of this is eye-of-the-beholder stuff. A Pistons fan from the late ’80s might lobby for Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. A ’60s Celtics fan might insist on Bob Cousy and Sam Jones. An ’80s Lakers fan might point to Magic Johnson and Byron Scott. Van Gundy dutifully considered every pairing that came his way. “I never heard one that even gave me pause, to be honest,” he said. “I just don’t think, as great as those backcourts are, offensively, I just don’t see one that has that kind of talent [as Doncic and Irving].”

The Ringer

Clutch Points: Jayson Tatum is averaging the most points in elimination games in Celtics history 👀 Jayson Tatum      27.1 points Sam Jones            25.8 points Larry Bird              23.3 points Paul Pierce           22.1 points Dave Cowens      21.6 points pic.twitter.com/P5HVOgNaVN

Twitter

Justin Kubatko: Jaylen Brown last night: ✅ 41 PTS ✅ 13 REB ✅ 18-29 FG Brown now has eight career 40-point games, tying Tom Heinsohn for the fifth-most such games in @celtics history. It's his third 40p/10r game, tying Sam Jones for fifth in franchise history. More: open.substack.com/pub/statitudes…

Twitter

Justin Kubatko: Jayson Tatum last night: ✅ 46 PTS ✅ 9 REB ✅ 7-15 3P Tatum is one of seven players in @Boston Celtics history to score at least 45 points in a playoff game, and he and Sam Jones are the only ones to do so twice. pic.twitter.com/upv2fB5JLB

Twitter

Justin Kubatko: Jayson Tatum last night: ✅ 16 PTS ✅ 10 REB ✅ 8 AST He became the seventh player in @Boston Celtics history to record a 2,000-point season: 4 - Larry Bird 4 - Paul Pierce 2 - John Havlicek 1 - Sam Jones 1 - Kevin McHale 1 - Isaiah Thomas 1 - Tatum pic.twitter.com/84v0LOysvL

Twitter

It used to not be a unicorn-level event, of course, for Black players from HBCUs to make it big in the NBA. Earl Monroe, Sam Jones, Willis Reed, Bob Dandridge — all Hall of Famers — played at HBCUs. Monroe was the second pick of the 1967 draft after leading Division II in scoring at Winston-Salem State. Today, only Robert Covington, who played at Tennessee State, is an HBCU alum. But, more NBA players are making real outreach to HBCU programs. Famously, former NBA player J.R. Smith is playing golf at North Carolina A&T. And, more quietly, real relationships are being built. Chris Paul has championed HBCU investment for the last several years, partnering with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to create the four-team Chris Paul HBCU Kick-Off in Connecticut. He’s getting his bachelor’s at Winston-Salem. Stephen Curry is funding the golf programs at Howard for six years, raising $3 million for the program’s endowment in 2021 at a charity golf tournament and auction at Pebble Beach. Both Paul and Curry met with Howard’s and Morgan’s players before Saturday’s game.

The Athletic

Marc J. Spears: Celtics legends selected by fans, media & historians for All-Celtics Team: Ray Allen, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Kevin Garnett, John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn, Dennis Johnson, Sam Jones, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Paul Pierce, Bill Russell, Bill Sharman & Jo Jo White. pic.twitter.com/Ys9TIaGHmD

Twitter

The Celtics legend died Thursday night, and those who knew the 88-year-old remember him most for who he was off the court. “The greatness of the person. I don’t even think about him being a basketball player,” Cedric Maxwell told The Athletic on Friday. “I just think about him being such a great person, and you can’t say that about a lot of people. Sometimes you meet a great athlete and you’re like, ‘He was a great player and blah, blah, blah.’ But he was a great person, and that, to me, was more important.”

The Athletic