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Popeye Jones

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Popeye Jones
Denver Nuggets
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1970-06-17) June 17, 1970 (age 54)
Dresden, Tennessee, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High schoolDresden (Dresden, Tennessee)
CollegeMurray State (1988–1992)
NBA draft1992: 2nd round, 41st overall pick
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career1992–2004
PositionPower forward
Number54, 4, 50
Coaching career2010–present
Career history
As player:
1992–1993Aresium Milano
1993–1996Dallas Mavericks
1996–1998Toronto Raptors
1998–1999Boston Celtics
1999–2000Denver Nuggets
2000–2002Washington Wizards
2002–2003Dallas Mavericks
2003–2004Golden State Warriors
As coach:
2010–2013New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets (assistant)
2013–2020Indiana Pacers (assistant)
2020–2021Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
2021–presentDenver Nuggets (assistant)
Career highlights and awards

As assistant coach:

Career NBA statistics
Points3,726 (7.0 ppg)
Rebounds3,981 (7.4 rpg)
Assists696 (1.3 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Ronald Jerome "Popeye" Jones (born June 17, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

College career

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Born in Dresden, Tennessee, Jones played college basketball for Murray State University. He finished his college career as a three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection, a two-time honorable mention All-America and was named OVC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991. Jones was honored as the OVC's Athlete of the Year in 1991 and 1992. He is one of only ten MSU men's basketball players to have his jersey retired; his #54 hangs in the rafters of the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. Jones ranks fourth on Murray State's all-time scoring list with 2,057 points. He is also Murray State's all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374, and led the nation in that category in the 1990–91 season. He is the only player in Murray State history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Playing career

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After college, he was selected by the Houston Rockets in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA draft, but his rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for those of former University of Michigan center Eric Riley. After playing professionally in Europe for a season, he played for the Mavericks for three seasons until being traded to the Toronto Raptors for Riley's former Michigan Wolverines teammate, shooting guard Jimmy King.

In 1998, Jones, Kenny Anderson, and Žan Tabak were traded to the Boston Celtics for Roy Rogers, Dee Brown, Chauncey Billups, and John Thomas. The following year, Jones was traded with Ron Mercer and Dwayne Schintzius to the Denver Nuggets for Eric Washington, Danny Fortson and Eric Williams. During the 2000 offseason, Jones was traded with a 2002 second-round draft pick to the Washington Wizards for Tracy Murray. He had a second stint with the Mavericks during the 2002–03 season, but played in only 26 of 82 games. The following year, Jones was acquired alongside Nick Van Exel, Antoine Rigaudeau, Avery Johnson, and Evan Eschmeyer by the Golden State Warriors in a blockbuster trade for Danny Fortson, Antawn Jamison, Jiří Welsch and Chris Mills. This trade marked the second time Fortson and Jones were traded for each other. In 2004, the Warriors waived Jones, effectively ending his career.

In a game on March 10, 1994, Jones collected 12 offensive rebounds without a single defensive rebound. The 12 offensive boards without recording a defensive rebound stands as an NBA record since the league started tracking the category in 1973–74.[1]

His best season was in 1995–96 with the Mavericks when he averaged 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game while making 14 of 39 three-point attempts, after averaging 10.3 points and 10.6 rebounds the previous year. He holds NBA career per game averages of 7.0 points and 7.4 rebounds. He once secured 28 rebounds in a single game for the Mavericks in the 1995–96 season, still a team record.[1]

Coaching career

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Following his 11-year career year in the NBA, Jones decided to pursue coaching professional basketball. He first worked as a player development coach with the Dallas Mavericks. After spending the 2007–08 through the 2009–10 season with the Mavericks, he earned a coaching job with the New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets as an assistant coach.[2]

On August 14, 2013, he was hired as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers.[3] Jones worked with All-Stars like Roy Hibbert and Paul George, and reached the Eastern Conference Finals his first two years with the team.

On November 9, 2020, the Philadelphia 76ers hired Jones as an assistant coach under Doc Rivers.[4]

On August 23, 2021, the Denver Nuggets announced that they had hired Jones as assistant coach.[5] Jones won his first NBA championship when the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals.

Personal life

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His nickname, Popeye, comes from the way one of his eyes seemingly “pops” out of his head.

Jones's sons, Seth and Caleb, are professional ice hockey players. During Jones's tenure with the Denver Nuggets, he approached Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche about his son playing ice hockey. Sakic advised the elder Jones to enroll his sons in skating classes first.[6]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

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Source[7]

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1993–94 Dallas 81 47 21.9 .479 .000 .729 7.5 1.2 .8 .4 5.8
1994–95 Dallas 80 80 29.8 .443 .083 .645 10.6 2.0 .4 .3 10.3
1995–96 Dallas 68 68 34.1 .446 .359 .767 10.8 1.9 .8 .4 11.3
1996–97 Toronto 79 61 30.6 .480 .077 .818 8.6 1.1 .7 .5 7.8
1997–98 Toronto 14 4 25.1 .409 .667 .737 7.3 1.3 .7 .2 8.6
1998–99 Boston 18 2 11.4 .392 .000 .824 2.9 .8 .3 .0 3.0
1999–00 Denver 40 1 8.3 .423 .667 .737 2.6 .5 .1 .2 2.6
2000–01 Washington 45 1 14.2 .392 .167 .745 4.9 .7 .4 .2 3.6
2001–02 Washington 79 40 24.3 .437 .364 .811 7.3 1.6 .6 .2 7.0
2002–03 Dallas 26 0 8.5 .387 – .455 2.3 .3 .2 .0 2.0
2003–04 Golden State 5 0 2.0 .000 – – .2 .0 .0 .0 .0
Career 535 304 23.5 .447 .281 .751 7.4 1.3 .6 .3 7.0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Witnessing a classic duel". www.espn.com.
  2. ^ "Nets Name Assistant Coaches to Avery Johnson's Staff". NBA.com. July 19, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  3. ^ "Popeye Jones Added to Pacers' Coaching Staff". NBA.com. August 14, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  4. ^ "Team Announces 2020–21 Coaching Staff". NBA.com. November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "Denver Nuggets Hire Popeye Jones As Assistant Coach". NBA.com. August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Pap, Elliott (November 7, 2012). "Elite prospect Seth Jones can thank Joe Sakic for starting him on right path". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  7. ^ "Popeye Jones NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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