MVPs: 0. Finals MVPs: (1). All-NBA 1st Team: 0. 2nd Team: 3. All Star: 5. MVP: 0.
Defensive POY: 0. All-Defense Teams: 0.
Career Averages: 18 PPG/ 5 RPG/ 2 APG/ .456 eFG%/ .803 FT%.
Best Season: 26/ 5/ 3/ .452/ .820 (1964-65).
Postseason Averages: 19 PPG/ 5 RPG/ 2 APG/ .447 eFG%/ .811 FT%.
Best Postseason: 29/ 5/ 2/ .459/ .869 (1965).
Championships: 10 (#2 player on 6, #3 player on 2, #4 player on 1, #5 player on 1). Runner-ups: 1 (#6 player).
Why he's below James Harden: Jones was never the best player on his own team. He was overshadowed by players that I have ranked higher than him, but it makes his championship total a bit less impressive.
Why he's above the rest: I just critiqued it in the above paragraph, but Jones's 10 championships are the 2nd most all-time, behind only Bill Russell. And though he was never the Celtics' best player, I have him ranked as the 2nd best player on 6 of those championship teams, in between the Cousy and Havlicek periods, and peaking in the 1964 and 1965 postseasons. I gave him my Finals MVP for 1964, and he followed that by averaging 29 PPG in the 1965 playoffs. Jones was the prototype of what would become the shooting guard position. He was a jump shooter who didn't take a lot of free throws, was solid but not great at every other area of the game, and was known for making clutch shots. Though the "Mr. Clutch" nickname stuck with Jerry West, Jones was known as the other most clutch player of their era. If he had played with fewer great teammates, would Jones have ended up with stats like West and fewer championships? I don't think he's as good as that, but I do think he belongs near the top 30.
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