A nod to Bobby Jones, Hall of Famer and one of the greats in Denver Nuggets history

Bobby Jones may not be the first name you think of when you reminisce over all-time Denver Nuggets greats but he should without a doubt be in the mix. An older audience is sure to remember Jones, who was one of the more versatile defenders in the league.

Although Bobby Jones only played four seasons with the Nuggets he did enough to be considered one of the best players to ever don a Denver uniform.

Bobby Jones is 6-foot-9, around 210 lbs in his playing days. He made his professional basketball debut in the ABA with the Nuggets in 1974 and hit the ground running his rookie season. Having played three seasons under the great Dean Smith at UNC, Jones was ready for the speed and physicality of pro basketball. Jones’ remarkable shooting was a hallmark of his game, as he never shot below 52% in any single season in his career. But make no mistake, it was Jones’ defensive acumen that led to him becoming a Hall of Famer in 2019.

You will often hear people make a case that a player’s skill set was strong enough for them to succeed in any era but in the case of Jones, it is a legitimate fact. Jones was the rare for his time, switchable big man on defense. There wasn’t much of an (intentional) switching element in NBA basketball of yesteryear but Jones’ versatility on defense allowed his coaches to put him on speedy guards, burly low post scorers and everything in between.

Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer interviewed the late Smith in the past on Jones’ game, and Fowler had this to say:

"Dean Smith appreciated Jones’ defensive versatility. The late UNC coach told me once in an interview that he would sometimes put Jones on 7-foot-4 Tommy Burleson of N.C. State and sometimes on Burleson’s teammate, the 6-4 dynamic dunker David Thompson…..“And he’d do a great job on either one…”"

Jones was an All-Star in three of his four seasons with the Nuggets and he helped them win their division in 1977 and 1978, finishing with a combined record of 98-66 over the two seasons. Jones made All-Defensive first team in ‘77 and ‘78, something that he would continue to do consecutively until 1985 when he made the All-Defensive second team.

Bobby Jones’ tenacity played a large role in the Nuggets’ early NBA success, including a Western Conference Semifinals loss to Bill Walton and the eventual champion Portland Trail Blazers in ‘77 and another tough series defeat in the ‘78 Western Conference Finals to the Seattle Supersonics. Over his Denver Nuggets career, Jones averaged 14.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. Jones also led the league in field goal percentage (57.8%) in his last season with Denver.

The Denver Nuggets come into 2019-20 season with a franchise record of 2,116 wins and 2106 losses (including ABA games), good for a win percentage of 50.1%. That is a great win percentage for a franchise with such an intriguing record of pre-NBA success, so whenever Nuggets fans are marveling over the great years in the squad’s history, don’t forget to give a quick nod to Bobby Jones and the first great Denver Nuggets teams after the NBA-ABA merger.