James Jones (born January 1, 1945)
Played for: New Orleans Buccaneers / Memphis Pros (1967–1971), Utah Stars (1971–1974),
Washington Bullets (1974–1977)
Jimmy Jones (Basketball Reference [Player] — Point guard / shooting guard (PG/SG)
11,366 points (16.3 ppg), 2,930 rebounds (4.6 rpg), 3,069 assists (4.5 apg)
6× ABA All-Star (1968–1971, 1973, 1974)
3× All-ABA First Team (1969, 1973, 1974)
ABA All-Rookie First Team (1968)
ABA All-Time Team
Did I mention that I have an interest in the American Basketball Association? Before the NBA was a 30-team (32 in the future?) juggernaut in the current day that spanned from coast to coast, the league was composed of 12 teams, barely made it to the West Coast, and it didn't even have a 3-point line. With the dawn of the ABA in the 1967-68 season (as developed by several people such as Dennis Murphy), now there were 11 teams for players to get a chance to play pro basketball, shooting for threes within a 30-second shot clock for 78 games. And that's where Jimmy Jones comes into play. Born in Tallulah, Louisiana, he played at Grambling State University after attending McCall High. According to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Jones averaged 25 points/6 rebounds per game in high school and then averaged 20 points/8 rebounds at Grambling State, which is pretty neat for the 1960s. He won SWAC titles in 1964, 1966, 1967 in 104 games.
He was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in the second round of the 1967 draft. However, he chose the New Orleans Buccaneers, apparently doing so (as quoted in Bob Kuska's Balls of Confusion book from 2024) for a three-year contract of $75,000 and a new car. In his first game for New Orleans, he scored 27 points in a 120-112 win over the Houston Mavericks on October 19. He had his first 30-point game two days later against the Indiana Pacers with 35. 70 of his 78 games would see him score at least ten points. Rebound totals are not complete for every game, but he had seven games with a double-double in points and rebounds. In total, he had 1,464 points in 78 games. He shot 46.7% from the field (22.2 percent from the three-line and 70.9 percent from the free-throw line) with 18.8 points per game and got an All-Star Game selection. In the playoffs, the Bucs were the Western Division champion in a two-division format. In the eight-team playoffs, the Bucs went all the way to the ABA Finals, with Jones averaging 20ppg in the first round and 24 ppg in the second round (as New Orleans went 8-2). They met the Eastern Division champion Pittsburgh Pipers in the Finals. Jones would average 21.6 points as the series went the full seven games, with Jones hitting the go-ahead shot in Game 3. With the Bucs leading 3-2 in the series and having a chance to win at home in Game 6, Jones had 20 points in a 118-112 loss and 19 in the 122-113 Game 7 loss. It was one of only two times Jones played in a championship series (and for the city of New Orleans, they didn't play for a pro championship again until 2010). He averaged 22 points and six rebounds in the playoffs with 45.9 percent shooting.
His 1968-69 season was quite special. He scored 2,050 points in 77 games to join Larry Jones as the first 2,000 point scorers in league history. It included a 48-point game against the future ABA champion Oakland Oaks on December 9. He shot a league high 764 times while leading the league in field goal percentage at 53.5%. It may interest you to know that in New Orleans basketball history, only two times has a player had 2,000 points in a pro season: Anthony Davis (2,099 [2016-17]) and...Anthony Davis (2,110 [2017-18]). He finished 4th in MVP voting that year to Mel Daniels (an underrated player if there ever was one, who averaged 24.0 ppg/16.5 rebounds per game)
He finished 9th the following year while averaging 20.7 points per game and made the All-Star Game. When the team moved to Memphis in 1970, he had 19.6 points per game before moving over to Utah, which had won the 1971 championship with legends such as Zelmo Beaty and Willie Wise and Ron Boone. Jones and his 15.5 points per game that year didn't get him an All-Star bid. His 7733 total points in his first five seasons actually ranks as 80th best for all players in their first five years. He came back to form with 16.7 points per game in 80 games of play in 1972-73. The 1973-74 season saw him join the 10,000-point club for a career (one of five with Louie Dampier, Mel Daniels, Donnie Freeman, Roger Brown), all done before being 30 years old. A prideful guard, here is perhaps the best quote from Jones to use about his thoughts about his play in 1974:
He played 83 games and scored 16.8 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and made his sixth and final All-Star Game. He led the league with 88.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line while playing over 35 minutes a game for the seventh straight year. He logged in heavy minutes for the playoffs, which saw the Western Division champion fight off San Diego (six games) and Indiana (seven games, where they won Game 7 after being up 3-0) to make the Finals against the Eastern Division champion Nets. The injuries to Zelmo Beaty (who missed the opening two games) and blown leads in Game 1 and 3 proved too much as the Nets won in five games. Wanting money and not being that big on Utah, he corralled his way onto the Washington Bullets in 1974. He averaged 19 minutes with 7 points a game on a team where Kevin Porter got heavy minutes at point guard but won 60 games. Jones played an average of 19 minutes with 6 points in the playoff run before Game 4 of the Conference Finals, where he tore ligaments in his right knee that required surgery (as for the Bullets, they were upset in the Finals by the Golden State Warriors)
The following year saw him make appearance in 64 games with an average of 17.7 minutes played and 5.9 points scored. In his final playoff run in 1976, he got 20 minutes a game in the seven-game series against Cleveland...where they were upset by the Cavaliers in the famed "Miracle at Richfield" (Cleveland had so few miracles that winning *one* playoff series had a nickname, this was the Conference semifinals). Jones played three games of the 1976-77 season before retiring, with his knees still bothering him. As of 2026, Jones is still active as an Uber driver and marketing for Amway*. As of this year, the NBA foolishly doesn't even recognize the statistics of the ABA, but you can check the stats from Basketball Reference like a winner. I can't make a case based on longevity, but I will present the fact that only four players made the All-Star Game six times in the ABA era, which went long enough to be considered its own era in my book: Mel Daniels, Louie Dampier, Dan Issel, and Jones. You've got one ESPN guy considering Jones the most deserving ABA candidate remaining, at least. The one mark of recognition for Jones came in 1997, when the 30th anniversary of the ABA led to 30 players being named to an All-Time Team. 27 of the 50 voters put Jones on that team. Maybe he won't make the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but Jones deserves to have a wider profile to actually see who he was beyond the usual tales people get from the ABA.
On behalf of the Unsung Hall of Fame, it is my privilege to welcome Jimmy Jones to the Hall.
N O T E S
*It should be mentioned that the NBA refuses to pay players like Jones more than the small pension that they receive for playing in the NBA. The league had come to an agreement in 2022 with less fortunate former ABA players but not players such as Jones, as seen here: A handful of ex-ABA players hope for a last-second financial long shot from the NBA - The Athletic
*Interview with Jones
Well done. Agree that he is “unsung “. Hope you saw Jimmy in the Soul Power documentary. No ABA guard ever shot a higher percentage or came closer to a title without winning one.
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