Robert Clyde Jones (born December 18, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Denver Nuggets in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Secretary of Defense", Jones won an NBA championship with the 76ers in 1983, was a four-time NBA All-Star, a nine-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, and was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1983. In 2019, Jones was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jones was born in Akron, Ohio, but he and his family were constantly on the move. When he was in the sixth grade, they moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they settled down. He grew up in a family that valued sports. His father J.R., a World War II veteran who had served in Japan, had played on the 1947 Oklahoma Sooners national championship runner-up team and later on became a nationally ranked tennis player. His mother Hazel was a dominant high school athlete in basketball and tennis. Older brother Kirby was All-State in high school basketball and later a Sooner, who was also a state champion in tennis.
As a child, Jones often spent his days watching television, describing himself as a "couch potato". J.R. then made him play on the church's league basketball team. When he was in sixth grade, his father built a basketball court. When his father was away working for Goodyear, he would assign them drills to work on. One of those drills was shooting right-handed, despite being left-handed. He would do his drills during commercials. Eventually, he grew to enjoy the drills. As he got better at basketball, it became a way for him to socialize in high school and gain self-esteem.
Jones attended South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, where played basketball and competed in track and field. His brother Kirby had also previously played for South Mecklenburg before playing for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Jones preferred track and field, because he could practice by himself on his own terms. He was a two-time state champion in the high jump, finishing second his junior year to future North Carolina teammate and fellow NBA Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo. As a senior, Jones set a state record of 6 feet, 8 inches. Despite his track and field success, his father pushed him to pursue basketball.
In basketball during his junior year, Jones earned Charlotte's Player of the Year Award and led South Mecklenburg into the state playoffs, where his squad lost to Greensboro Ben L. Smith that starred McAdoo. In his senior year, Jones led South Mecklenburg to the 1970 NCHSAA 4A state title and was also named MVP of the state championship game. Still, with all of his success in the sport, Jones did not think much about a future in it, but decided to pursue a basketball scholarship help pay for his education.
He was recruited by the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and Florida. He also had interest in Davidson College, as he regularly attended their games. His family also tried to convince him to play for Oklahoma, but it was too far for him.
Jones chose North Carolina, as he connected with the coaching staff headed by Dean Smith, which included Bill Guthridge and John Lotz. NCAA eligibility rules at the time prohibited him from playing as a freshman, allowing him to learn defensive skills from Smith and Guthridge. As a sophomore, Jones set an Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record 66.8% from the floor, and averaged 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds a game while helping UNC reach the Final Four (where they fell to the Florida State Seminoles).
After his time with the U.S. national basketball team, Jones started the gesture of pointing to teammates who passed him the ball to create a scoring opportunity, whether he made the shot or not. Coach Smith called the show of appreciation to his teammates "The Bobby Jones Rule". In his junior season, he averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.
The American Basketball Association (ABA)'s Carolina Cougars selected Jones after his junior season in the 1973 Special Circumstances Draft, but he wanted to finish his psychology degree and polish his game, so he returned to North Carolina for his senior year while the Cougars held on to his ABA rights. For his senior year, he was named co-captain of the team.
He produced an All-America campaign in 1973–74, averaging 16.1 points and 9.8 rebounds. He turned in memorable performances against Duke that season, including a clutch steal and game-winning layup against them in March. On UNC's "Senior Day", he contributed four points in the clutch as the team scored eight straight points to tie the game and eventually win in overtime 96–92. He finished that game with 24 points. Jones ended his career with averages of 13.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 60.8% from the field; he graduated with his psychology degree.
Jones was selected by the Houston Rockets with the fifth overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft. Meanwhile, the Cougars franchise (then known as the Spirits of St. Louis), still held onto his ABA draft rights. Former Carolina Coach Larry Brown had moved on to the Denver Nuggets, and he was determined to acquire him. The Nuggets traded for his rights with St. Louis in exchange for the rights to center Marvin Barnes. Jones chose to join Denver, as he would have more playing time there.
With Brown's coaching and Jones in the frontcourt, Denver went 65–19 in 1974–75, a 28-game improvement and franchise record. Jones shot .604 from the floor for an ABA record, scored 14.8 points per game, and won a spot on the ABA All-Rookie Team. However, Denver lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Western Division Finals.
In the 1975–76 season, the ABA's last, Jones averaged 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks, and once again topped the league in field-goal percentage. He also played in the 1976 ABA All-Star Game, where he scored 24 points with 10 rebounds, and was named to the All-ABA Second Team. The Nuggets, with stars David Thompson and Dan Issel, finished with a league-best 60–24 record, but fell to the New York Nets in the Finals.
1976–1978; Transition to the NBA
The Nuggets transitioned to the NBA in 1976 as part of the ABA–NBA merger. In the 1976–77 season, Denver won the Midwest Division. Jones averaged a career-high 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds with a .570 field-goal percentage, and started in his first NBA All-Star Game alongside Thompson and Issel. He also outpolled all other players in earning the first of eight straight selections to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, as he had the best defensive rating in the league. They lost to the eventual champions the Portland Trail Blazers in the semis.
The following season Jones averaged 14.5 points, elevated his field-goal percentage to a league-leading .578, and returned to the All-Star Game. Denver won their division once again. However, due to the phenobarbital he was taking for his epilepsy, his performance dipped in the playoffs, and the Nuggets were eliminated in six games by the Seattle Supersonics in the Western Conference finals.
Denver management feared Jones would be limited by his health problems, as his epilepsy was getting worse throughout the season. This would be his final season in there. He finished his stint in Denver with averages of 14.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. As of 2024 he was #7 on the team's all-time steals list, and #4 in all-time blocks.