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Damon Jones

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For other people named Damon Jones, see Damon Jones (disambiguation).

Damon Jones
Jones with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006
Personal information
Born (1976-08-25) August 25, 1976 (age 48)
Galveston, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolBall (Galveston, Texas)
CollegeHouston (1994–1997)
NBA draft1997: undrafted
Playing career1997–2012
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Number9, 11, 13, 14, 19
Coaching career2015–2018
Career history
As player:
1997–1998Black Hills Posse
1998Jacksonville Barracudas
1998–1999Idaho Stampede
1999New Jersey Nets
1999Boston Celtics
1999Golden State Warriors
1999–2000Dallas Mavericks
2000Gulf Coast Sun Dogs
2000–2001Vancouver Grizzlies
2001–2002Detroit Pistons
2002–2003Sacramento Kings
2003–2004Milwaukee Bucks
2004–2005Miami Heat
2005–2008Cleveland Cavaliers
2008–2009Milwaukee Bucks
2009NSB Napoli
2010Piratas de Quebradillas
2011Bucaneros de La Guaira
2012Reno Bighorns
As coach:
2015–2016Canton Charge (assistant)
2016–2018Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As assistant coach:

Career NBA statistics
Points4,326 (6.6 ppg)
Rebounds1,074 (1.6 rpg)
Assists1,806 (2.7 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Damon Darron Jones (born August 25, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played most of his career for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

A combo guard, he played college basketball for three years with the University of Houston Cougars before declaring early for the 1997 NBA draft, but he went undrafted. After his playing career ended, Jones joined the Cavaliers coaching staff.

Early life

[edit]

Jones played for the Ball High School Golden Tornadoes basketball team. He went on to the University of Houston after his graduation in 1994.

Professional career

[edit]

A journeyman throughout his career, Jones never played for the same team for more than one season except for 2005–2008, when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his career, he played for ten different teams.

Jones was most notable for his ability to make three-point field goals. In fact, three-point attempts made up the majority of his field goal attempts because his role was often to wait on the outside while teammates such as Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, or LeBron James forced double teams. Jones was supremely confident of his shot, once proclaiming that he is "the best shooter in the world."[1]

Early career

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Jones played for the Idaho Stampede of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 1998–99 season. He was selected as the CBA Newcomer of the Year and named to the All-CBA First Team.[2]

2004–2005

[edit]

Prior to the 2004–2005 season, Jones signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Miami Heat. Jones then proceeded to have the best statistical season of his career, setting career highs in games started (66), minutes played (2,576), field goals made (331) and attempted (726), field goal percentage (45.6%), three-point field goals made (225) and attempted (521), three-point field goal percentage (43.2%), free throws made (68) and attempted (86), rebounds (231), steals (44), blocked shots (5) and points scored (955).[3] His 225 three-point field goals made was third best in the NBA (and at the time, tied with Mitch Richmond for the ninth most ever in an NBA season) and his three-point field goal percentage was fifth best that season.[4]

Jones had a career-high 31 points on February 16, 2005, against the Los Angeles Clippers and scored in double figures on 48 occasions. He also had his only game with two blocked shots on March 10, 2005, against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jones grabbed a career-high eight rebounds on November 6, 2004, against the Washington Wizards, a mark he tied on February 22, 2005, against the Chicago Bulls.[5]

In 15 playoff games, Jones averaged 12.1 points and 4.0 assists, and shot 42.9% from three-point range.[3] He had a career playoff high of 30 points with seven three-point field goals made in Miami's first game of the first round against the New Jersey Nets. Jones scored in double digits during 10 of Miami's 15 playoff games.[5]

Cleveland Cavaliers: 2005–2008

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Jones departed the Heat to sign a four-year contract worth a reported $16.1 million with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 8, 2005.[6] In 82 games played (seven starts) during the 2005–06 regular season, Jones averaged 6.7 points and 2.1 assists per game. He shot 37.7% from three-point range.[3] On November 13, 2006, he had a season-high 22 points on a season-high 5 three-point field goals. Jones hit five three-point field goals on four other occasions.[7] On March 8, 2006, Jones hit a game-winning three-point field goal as time expired in a 98–97 victory against the Toronto Raptors.[4]

In the 2006 NBA Playoffs, Jones played in 13 games, averaged 1.8 points and hit 27.8% of his three-pointers.[3] He had a playoff high 8 points in a game four Eastern Conference Semifinal win against the Detroit Pistons.[7]

On May 5, 2006, Jones came off the bench late in Game 6 of the Cavs' Eastern Conference first-round series against the Washington Wizards. In his first minute of the game action, in overtime, he hit the game-winning shot to clinch the series four games to two, and sent the Cavs into the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time since 1993.[8]

In 60 games played during the 2006–2007 regular season, Jones averaged 6.6 points and 1.6 assists per game. He shot 38.5% from three-point range.[3] On November 13, 2006, he had a season-high 29 points on a season-high 7 three-point field goals.[9]

Jones was selected to participate in the Three-Point Shootout during the 2007 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones finished in fifth place.

In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Jones played in 11 games, averaged 2.4 points and hit 31.8% of his three-pointers.[3] He had a playoff high 9 points on three three-point field goals in a game one NBA Final loss to the San Antonio Spurs.[9]

Jones played in 68 regular season games (three starts) for the Cavaliers. He averaged 6.4 points and 1.9 assists and shot 41.7% from three-point range. Jones had a season-high 27 points on a season-high seven three-point field goals[10] in a February 22, 2008, short-handed Cavs victory over the Washington Wizards.[11]

In five playoff games, Jones scored six total points and dished one assist.

On December 28, 2007, it was revealed that the Cavaliers fined Jones and Ira Newble an undisclosed amount of money for refusing to come off the bench during the final minute of their Christmas Day win over the Miami Heat.[12]

2008–2009

[edit]

On August 13, 2008, Jones was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder that also sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to Cleveland, Cleveland's Joe Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City, and Oklahoma City's Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee.[13]

2010

[edit]

On March 29, 2010, Jones signed with the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Puerto Rico Basketball League.[14] However, on April 13 he was released, after averaging only 10.7 points in four games played.

2011

[edit]

In February 2011, he signed with Aliağa Petkim in Turkey,[15] but didn't pass the physical fitness test and was released.[16]

2012

[edit]

After a stint with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League (NBA D-League), Jones retired from playing in 2012.

Coaching career

[edit]

In 2014, Jones became a part of the coaching staff for the Cleveland Cavaliers with the title of "shooting consultant," working with both the Cavaliers and their NBADL affiliate the Canton Charge.[17][18][19] During the 2015–16 season, Jones served as an assistant coach with the Charge.[20][21]

In April 2016, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue added Jones to his coaching staff for the 2016 NBA Playoffs.[22] The Cavaliers went on to win the championships over the Golden State Warriors in seven games, being the first team to overcome a 3–1 deficit. In September 2016, Jones was promoted to the full-time role of assistant coach for the Cavaliers.[23] In March 2018, Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith threw a bowl of soup at Jones and was suspended for one game by the team.[24][25]

Records, milestones and rankings

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  • Ranked third in the NBA in three-point field goals made (225) in 2004–2005.
  • Ranked 5th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (43.2%) in 2004–2005.
  • Led the NBA in "True Shooting Percentage" (62.5%) in 2004–2005.[26]

Personal life

[edit]
  • Jones majored in sociology at the University of Houston.
  • On January 10, 2006, Jones became the first NBA player to sign with a Chinese shoe company when he signed a two-year contract with Li-Ning.[27]
  • Damon Jones has a child with Former WNBA star and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Tina Thompson.[28]

NBA career statistics

[edit]
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
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 New Jersey 11 0 11.9 .318 .345 .846 1.2 1.2 .6 .0 4.5
1998–99 Boston 13 0 16.4 .387 .455 .750 2.4 2.2 .5 .0 5.8
1999–00 Golden State 13 1 15.1 .463 .478 .778 1.2 3.0 .5 .0 5.2
1999–00 Dallas 42 0 9.9 .357 .330 .641 .9 1.4 .3 .0 3.9
2000–01 Vancouver 71 10 19.9 .409 .364 .712 1.7 3.2 .5 .0 6.5
2001–02 Detroit 67 0 16.2 .401 .371 .729 1.5 2.1 .3 .0 5.1
2002–03 Sacramento 49 1 14.5 .381 .364 .741 1.4 1.6 .4 .1 4.6
2003–04 Milwaukee 82 26 24.6 .401 .359 .764 2.1 5.8 .4 .0 7.0
2004–05 Miami 82 66 31.4 .456 .432 .791 2.8 4.3 .5 .1 11.6
2005–06 Cleveland 82* 7 25.5 .387 .377 .640 1.6 2.1 .5 .0 6.7
2006–07 Cleveland 60 0 19.6 .386 .385 .682 1.1 1.6 .3 .0 6.6
2007–08 Cleveland 67 3 19.9 .416 .417 .714 1.1 1.9 .3 .0 6.5
2008–09 Milwaukee 18 0 6.0 .324 .393 .000 .3 .4 .2 .0 1.8
Career 657 114 20.5 .407 .390 .727 1.6 2.7 .4 .0 6.6

Playoffs

[edit]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002 Detroit 10 0 18.1 .381 .296 .750 2.1 2.5 .5 .0 4.3
2004 Milwaukee 5 5 28.8 .529 .476 .667 4.0 7.4 1.0 .0 10.0
2005 Miami 15 15 33.2 .481 .429 .600 2.7 4.0 .5 .0 12.1
2006 Cleveland 13 0 13.9 .308 .278 .750 1.2 .9 .2 .0 1.8
2007 Cleveland 11 0 12.6 .308 .318 1.000 .8 1.0 .0 .0 2.4
2008 Cleveland 5 0 5.2 .200 .286 .000 .0 .2 .0 .0 1.2
Career 59 20 19.8 .427 .382 .660 1.8 2.5 .3 .0 5.6

Notes

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  1. ^ "Damon Jones Interview". InsideHoops.com. December 28, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2007.
  2. ^ "Damon Jones minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Damon Jones Profile
  4. ^ a b Damon Jones Bio Archived 2008-01-29 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b Damon Jones 2004-2005 Game Log
  6. ^ Cavaliers, Jones reach four-year, $16.1M deal
  7. ^ a b Damon Jones 2005-2006 Game Log
  8. ^ Jones comes off bench to hit OT game-winner for Cavs
  9. ^ a b Damon Jones 2006-2007 Game Log
  10. ^ Damon Jones Game Log (2007-08)
  11. ^ LeBron's late free-throws lift Cavs' short-handed crew to win
  12. ^ Report: Cavs' Jones, Newble refused to play game's final minute., ESPN.com, December 28, 2007
  13. ^ Cavaliers Acquire Williams in Three-Team Trade, August 13th, 2008
  14. ^ "Damon Jones joins Piratas". Pirataspr.com. March 29, 2010. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  15. ^ Aliaga Petkim lands sharpshooter Damon Jones
  16. ^ Aliağa guardını buldu (in Turkish)
  17. ^ Skolnick, Ethan (January 21, 2015). "As Always for LeBron, It's His Teammates, Not the Coach, Who Matter Most". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  18. ^ Spears, Marc J. (January 11, 2016). "How LeBron James helped Damon Jones get his start in coaching". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  19. ^ Borcas, Matt (June 12, 2015). "LeBron's Secret Weapon: Damon Jones". Grantland. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  20. ^ Wyatt, Sean (November 2, 2015). "Charge 2015-16 Coaching Staff & Training Camp Roster - Canton Charge". Canton Charge. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  21. ^ Goldman, Tom (June 10, 2016). "Playing for a Chance: The Promise and Pain of the NBA's Minor League". NPR. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  22. ^ Haynes, Chris (April 13, 2016). "Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue to add Damon Jones to coaching staff during postseason". cleveland.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  23. ^ Fedor, Chris (September 27, 2016). "Cleveland Cavaliers officially announce Tyronn Lue's coaching staff, promoting Larry Drew to associate head coach". cleveland.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  24. ^ "Sources: JR Smith banned for throwing soup". March 2, 2018.
  25. ^ "J.R. Smith opens up about throwing soup at former Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones in 2018". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  26. ^ 2004-05 NBA Expanded Leaders
  27. ^ Li-Ning signs NBA star Damon Jones
  28. ^ Comets' Thompson to Miss Part of Season Archived 2006-05-26 at the Wayback Machine, February 4, 2005
[edit]
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