Popeye Jones

Popeye Jones

Denver Nuggets
Position	Assistant coach
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1970-06-17) June 17, 1970 (age 53) Dresden, Tennessee, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school	Dresden (Dresden, Tennessee)
College	Murray State (1988–1992)
NBA draft	1992: 2nd round, 41st overall pick
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career	1992–2004
Position	Power forward
Number	54, 4, 50
Coaching career	2010–present
Career history
As player:
1992–1993	Aresium Milano
1993–1996	Dallas Mavericks
1996–1998	Toronto Raptors
1998–1999	Boston Celtics
1999–2000	Denver Nuggets
2000–2002	Washington Wizards
2002–2003	Dallas Mavericks
2003–2004	Golden State Warriors
As coach:
2010–2013	New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets (assistant)
2013–2020	Indiana Pacers (assistant)
2020–2021	Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
2021–present	Denver Nuggets (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
NCAA rebounding leader (1992) 2× OVC Player of the Year (1990, 1991) 3× First-team All-OVC (1990–1992) No. 54 retired by Murray State Racers As assistant coach: NBA champion (2023)
Career NBA statistics
Points	3,726 (7.0 ppg)
Rebounds	3,981 (7.4 rpg)
Assists	696 (1.3 apg)
Stats   at NBA.com
Stats   at Basketball-Reference.com

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

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

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

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

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]

Seth was drafted in the first round of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft. He was taken 11th overall by the Everett Silvertips but later traded to the Portland Winterhawks. ^[7] Seth was then taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. ^{[8] [9]} In 2013, Seth played for the United States under-20 national team, which won gold at the 2013 IIHF World U20 Championship. Seth was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 6, 2016, ^{[10] [11]} serving as one of the team's alternate captains from 2018. On July 23, 2021, Seth was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, ^[12] joining his brother Caleb who had been traded to the Blackhawks earlier in the same month.

Jones's younger son Caleb was selected by the Edmonton Oilers as the 117th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. ^[13] Caleb was a member of the United States under-20 national team, which won gold at the 2017 IIHF World U20 Championship. On July 12, 2021, Caleb was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. ^[14] On August 10, 2023, Caleb signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. ^[15] On October 10, 2023, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. ^[16]

Career statistics

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

Source ^[17]

Regular season

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

• Sports portal

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders
• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds

References

1. "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. "Silvertips Select Two Defensemen In First Round". Archived from the original on August 1, 2009.
8. Russell, Jimi (June 30, 2013). "Nashville Predators Select Seth Jones With The Fourth Pick In The 2013 Entry Draft". NHL.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
9. Jones, Seth (June 30, 2013). "Seth Jones happy to join Nashville Predators". NHL.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
10. "Blue Jackets acquire defenseman Seth Jones from Nashville in exchange for center Ryan Johansen". NHL.com. January 6, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
11. Stanley, Robby (January 6, 2016). "Johansen to Predators; Blue Jackets get Jones". NHL.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
12. "Jones traded to Blackhawks by Blue Jackets". NHL.com. July 23, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
13. Willis, Jonathan (June 27, 2015). "Edmonton Oilers select defenceman Caleb Jones with the No. 117 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
14. "Keith traded to Oilers by Blackhawks". NHL.com. July 14, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
15. "Canes Sign Jones To One-Year Contract". NHL.com. August 10, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
16. "Avalanche land D Caleb Jones from Hurricanes for F Callahan Burke". ESPN.com. October 10, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
17. "Popeye Jones NBA stats". Basketball Reference . Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved October 5, 2023.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  and  Basketball-Reference.com