Bobby Jones is a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2019 class of inductees. The forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, played a total of 12 seasons in the NBA and ABA from 1974-75 to 1985-86, averaging 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
Jones spent his first four seasons of pro basketball with the Denver Nuggets, making a name for himself as a dynamic defensive force. By the time he joined the 76ers via trade for the 1978-79 season, he was already a three-time NBA/ABA All-Star, and had been selected to the All-Defensive First Team every year of his career.
If Jones were already a star player when he left Denver, he became legendary by the time he retired from the Sixers in May of 1986, thanks to a litany of clutch hustle and defensive plays in key playoff moments.
He continued his All-Defensive streak, making six more appearances on the First Team through 1984 for a total of 10 consecutive selections. In 1985, he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
Two more All-Star appearances were in store for Jones during the 1981 and 1982 seasons, giving him a career total of five showings in the annual classic.
Marking one of Jones’ finest individual accomplishments, he was voted in 1983 the winner of the NBA’s inaugural Sixth Man of the Year award. That same season, his hustling defense and efficient offensive play helped lift the Sixers to the NBA championship after previous Finals appearances in 1980 and 1982.
Just six months after his retirement, on November 7th, 1986, the Sixers retired Jones’ no. 24. In February 2018, a sculpture of Jones was added to the 76ers Legends Walk.
Prior to his time in professional basketball, Jones was a college standout at the University of North Carolina, and a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team for the 1972 Olympics.
Also among the 2019 Hall of Fame finalists is former Sixers forward Chris Webber. He played three seasons with the team in the mid-2000s, averaging 17.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Webber played 15 seasons in the NBA as one of the most versatile and skilled big men in league history. The 1994 Rookie of the Year was voted to the All-NBA Team five times, and appeared in five All-Star games.