Wilmington native and NBA legend Sam Jones, aka 'Mr. Clutch,' dies at 88
John Staton
Sam Jones, who was born in Wilmington in 1933 and went on win 10 National Basketball Association championships as an integral member of the Boston Celtics, died Thursday night, according to multiple news outlets. He was 88.
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While Wilmington was his hometown, Jones played high school basketball at Laurinburg Prep, according to HBCUgameday.com, which covers historically Black colleges and universities. He sandwiched his college career at N.C. Central University in Durham around two years in the U.S. Army, graduating from NCCU in 1957.
Drafted in the first round of the NBA draft, eighth overall, by the Boston Celtics in 1957, Jones would go on to a 12-year NBA career, He played on 10 championship teams, including eight in a row from 1959 to 1966. Only legendary Celtics center Bill Russell, with 11, has more NBA titles to his name.
Jones, a master of the bank shot whose nickname was "Mr. Clutch," was a shooting guard who averaged more than 20 points a game in four NBA seasons and nearly 19 points a game in the playoffs.
Jones was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984, and in October the NBA named him one of its 75 greatest players of all time for the league's 75th anniversary.
He is a member of the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame but not a member of the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame.
The Associated Press reported Jones died in Florida after being "hospitalized in failing health."
Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.