Final
Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks
135 – 117
2026-27 · Preseason · Preseason
Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Sam Jones
Career at a glance
Sam Jones played 12 NBA regular seasons between 1957 and 1969, appearing in 871 games and averaging 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He spent his whole career with Boston (1957–69, 871 games). His best scoring season was 1964–65 with Boston: 25.9 points per game over 80 games.
Championship seasons: 1958–59 (Boston), 1959–60 (Boston), 1960–61 (Boston), 1961–62 (Boston), 1962–63 (Boston), 1963–64 (Boston), 1964–65 (Boston), 1965–66 (Boston), 1967–68 (Boston), 1968–69 (Boston). In the playoffs he appeared in 12 postseason runs (154 games, 18.9 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 15,400 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Sam Jones
Samuel Jones (June 24, 1933 – December 30, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who was a shooting guard for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A five-time NBA All-Star, he was nicknamed "Mr. Clutch" and "the Shooter" for his quickness and game-winning shots, especially during the NBA playoffs. Jones has the second most NBA championships of any player (10), behind only his teammate Bill Russell (11). He was also one of only three Celtics (along with teammates Russell and K. C. Jones) to be part of each of the Celtics' eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. Jones is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Born
- June 24, 1933 Laurinburg, North Carolina, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
- Listed weight
- 198 lb (90 kg)
- Position
- Shooting guard
- High school
- Laurinburg Institute (Laurinburg, North Carolina)
- College
- North Carolina Central (1951–1954, 1956–1957)
- NBA draft
- 1957: 1st round, 8th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1957–1969
Career highlights and awards
- 10× NBA champion (1959–1966, 1968, 1969)
- 5× NBA All-Star (1962, 1964–1966, 1968)
- 3× All-NBA Second Team (1965–1967)
- NBA anniversary team (25th, 50th, 75th)
- No. 24 retired by Boston Celtics
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957–58 | Boston | 56 | 10.6 | .429 | .714 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 4.6 |
| 1958–59† | Boston | 71 | 20.6 | .434 | .770 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 10.7 |
| 1959–60† | Boston | 74 | 20.4 | .454 | .764 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 11.9 |
| 1960–61† | Boston | 78 | 26.0 | .449 | .787 | 5.4 | 2.8 | 15.0 |
| 1961–62† | Boston | 78 | 30.6 | .464 | .818 | 5.9 | 3.0 | 18.4 |
| 1962–63† | Boston | 76 | 30.6 | .476 | .793 | 5.2 | 3.2 | 19.7 |
| 1963–64† | Boston | 76 | 31.3 | .450 | .783 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 19.4 |
| 1964–65† | Boston | 80 | 36.1 | .452 | .820 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 25.9 |
| 1965–66† | Boston | 67 | 32.2 | .469 | .799 | 5.2 | 3.2 | 23.5 |
| 1966–67 | Boston | 72 | 32.3 | .454 | .857 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 22.1 |
| 1967–68† | Boston | 73 | 33.0 | .461 | .827 | 4.9 | 3.0 | 21.3 |
| 1968–69† | Boston | 70 | 26.0 | .450 | .783 | 3.8 | 2.6 | 16.3 |
| Career | 871 | 27.9 | .456 | .803 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 17.7 |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Boston | 8 | 9.4 | .455 | .688 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 3.9 |
| 1959† | Boston | 11 | 17.5 | .370 | .846 | 5.7 | 1.5 | 10.3 |
| 1960† | Boston | 13 | 15.2 | .385 | .810 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 8.2 |
| 1961† | Boston | 10 | 25.8 | .446 | .886 | 5.4 | 2.2 | 13.1 |
| 1962† | Boston | 14 | 36.0 | .444 | .700 | 7.1 | 3.1 | 20.6 |
| 1963† | Boston | 13 | 34.6 | .484 | .831 | 6.2 | 2.5 | 23.8 |
| 1964† | Boston | 10 | 35.6 | .506 | .735 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 23.2 |
| 1965† | Boston | 12 | 41.3 | .459 | .869 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 28.6 |
| 1966† | Boston | 17 | 35.4 | .449 | .838 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 24.8 |
| 1967 | Boston | 9 | 36.2 | .459 | .862 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 26.7 |
| 1968† | Boston | 19 | 36.1 | .441 | .786 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 20.5 |
| 1969† | Boston | 18 | 28.6 | .419 | .797 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 16.8 |
| Career | 154 | 30.2 | .447 | .811 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 18.9 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 4″
- Weight
- 198 lb
- Position
- Shooting guard
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1957
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 8
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
View the official NBA player profile ↗