addByline("Peter Stringer", "Celtics.com", "peterstringer");
Former Celtics Head Coach K.C. Jones, along with former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, was named a co-recipient of the 2016 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jones, who never had a losing season as a head coach, will be recognized just prior to Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight in Cleveland. The award honors the memory of the late Chuck Daly, a Hall of Famer who made an indelible mark on the game of basketball throughout his own coaching career. Former recipients of the award include Dick Motta, Bernie Bickerstaff, Pat Riley, Lenny Wilkins, Tex Winter and Jack Ramsay, as well as former Celtics coaches Bill Fitch and Tommy Heinsohn.
Jones’ outstanding resume speaks volumes about his impact and contributions to the game; he was a part of 14 championship basketball teams, including 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics. A two-time NCAA champion, Jones won eight NBA titles as a player in Boston, two as an assistant coach (one of which came with the Los Angeles Lakers) and he guided the 1984 and 1986 Celtics to a pair of World Championships as head coach. He also won a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics.
K.C. “Kip” Jones III, Jones’ son, accepted the award on behalf of his father. “Were he here tonight in Cleveland, I know he would accept this honor with his humbleness and deep gratitude,” Jones III said.
Jones compiled an impressive 308-102 regular season record over five seasons at the helm of the Celtics, guiding them to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances from 1984-1987. Jones’ overall regular season coaching record stands at 522-252.
Rick Carlisle, currently the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks and National Basketball Coaches Association President, was a member of the legendary 1986 Celtics team that Jones led to a title. Carlisle called Jones “one of the greatest competitors in NBA history” and holds deep respect for his former coach.
“K.C. has a great feel for people. He has an amazing way with people. He’s low-key. But he’s extremely knowledgeable and he was one of the all-time winners,” Carlisle said in an interview earlier this season with Celtics.com. “He is a beautiful guy and was the perfect guy to coach that (1986) team.”
Larry Bird, who starred for Jones’ Celtics teams in the mid-80s, echoed Carlisle’s sentiments about Jones. Bird appreciated Jones’ coaching style, and enjoyed playing for him.
“I don’t think anything really bothered K.C., other than losing, and we knew that,” Bird told Celtics.com in November when discussing the 1986 team. “K.C. is the nicest human being I ever met in my life.”
Jones’ jersey was retired by the Celtics in 1968, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.