K. C. Jones was an American professional basketball player and coach who won 11 of his 12 NBA championships with Boston Celtics (eight as a player, one as an assistant coach, and two as a head coach) and the only African-American coach other than Bill Russell to have won multiple NBA championships. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989. Jones attended Commerce High School in San Francisco, played basketball, and later played college basketball at the Universi... moreK. C. Jones was an American professional basketball player and coach who won 11 of his 12 NBA championships with Boston Celtics (eight as a player, one as an assistant coach, and two as a head coach) and the only African-American coach other than Bill Russell to have won multiple NBA championships. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989. Jones attended Commerce High School in San Francisco, played basketball, and later played college basketball at the University of San Francisco along with Bill Russell. After college, Jones joined the NBA and considered a career as an NFL player where however he failed to make the cut. He was known as a tenacious defender during his playing days, an Olympic gold medalist, and he is one of eight players in basketball history to have won an NCAA championship, and an NBA championship. Jones began his coaching career as the head coach at Brandeis University, as an assistant coach at Harvard University before returning to the professional coaching ranks in 1997, guiding the New England Blizzard of the fledgling women's American Basketball League through its last 1½ seasons of existence. On December 25, 2020, Jones died of Alzheimer's disease at age 88 at an assisted living center in Connecticut.
