Dwight Elmo Jones (February 27, 1952 – July 25, 2016) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. A 6'10" forward/center, he was the leading scorer and rebounder on the 1972 Olympic team that lost the controversial gold medal game to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Jones was ejected from the gold medal game after an altercation with a Soviet player. Later it was revealed that the Soviets intentionally provoked him as they saw him as the leader of the U.S. team and wanted to get him out. Jones attended E.O. Smith Education Center and Wheatley High School.Distinguished HISD Alumni
," ''

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

'' After playing college basketball at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

from 1970–73, Jones was selected as the 9th overall pick in

1973 NBA Draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. Jones played for ten seasons in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

from 1973 to 1983 with four teams: Atlanta, the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

, and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. The 6 ft 10 in

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

averaged 8.1 points in 766 career regular season games. His son, Dwight Jones II, played at

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University, is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Its Cultural Arts Center hou ...

. A 6-3 guard, Jones II was named the Red River Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2005-06 and 2006-07 while also being named an NAIA All-America both seasons. Jones died on July 25, 2016.

References

External links

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Career NCAA stats
@ thedraftreview.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Dwight 1952 births 2016 deaths African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players at the 1971 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Houston Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls players Houston Cougars men's basketball players Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Lakers players Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in basketball Pallacanestro Trieste players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) United States men's national basketball team players Pan American Games competitors for the United States 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people