Baller Bio: Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones was born on January 9th, 1984 in Compton, California. He played college basketball at Washignton University. He played in 125 games over the course of four seasons and put up averages of 9.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. Jones played with five future NBA players at Washingston, including dunk-champion Nate Robinson and All-Star Brandon Roy. His best statistical season was his junior year in which he averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and shot over 50 percent from 3-point range. In his last two seasons at Washinton, Jones helped lead the Huskies to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He graduated in 2006 and majored in Comparative Cross-Cultural Writing. Here are some highlights from Jones' college career:



Jones was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 37th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft and was traded on draft night to the Philadelphia 76ers for cash and a 2007 2nd round pick. He played in 44 games with the 76ers in which Allen Iverson was traded early in the season. He also was briefly assigned to the D-League along with teammate Lou Williams on November 28th, 2006. In 3 games with the Fort Worth Flyers, Jones averaged 13.7 points and 8 rebounds. He was recalled to the 76ers with Williams less than a month later on December 8th.

Jones had an average rookie season for a second-round draft pick, but ended it with a bang by starting the last 3 games of the season (Philly didn't make the playoffs). He scored 13 points in a win in Detriot (see a steal/dunk in the 4th quarter by Jones from that game here), 13 points again in a loss to the Lebron-led Cavaliers, and put up season-highs of 14 points and 6 rebounds in the final game of the season (a win in Toronto). That was also his final game as a Sixer as he was traded during the offseason to the Denver Nuggets along with Steven Hunter in exchange for Reggie Evans and Ricky Sanchez.

Jones was reunited with his former-teammate, Allen Iverson, in Denver and played in 23 games (averaging 3.3 points and 1.4 rebounds) with the Nuggets. He was waived on January 7th, 2008 before his contract could become guaranteed.

A few days later, on January 10th, Jones was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies to the first of two 10-day contracts. He played in 9 games with the Grizzlies and averaged 4.4 points and 3 rebounds. Jones started 2 games for Memphis. In the first, he had the best game of his career. In 40 minutes on January 18th, 2008, in a win against Sonics, he scored 20 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out 7 assists, and had 3 steals. However, Memphis apparently didn't see Jones in their future and didn't re-sign him when his second 10-day contract expired.

On February 9th, Jones signed with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the D-League. He played in a few games with the Skyforce before being signed to a 10-day contract by the Houston Rockets. In 4 games with the Rockets, Jones was played less than 5 minutes in each game and was not re-signed when his 10-day contract expired.

Jones was picked up the Miami Heat on March 12th, 2008, and signed to a 10-day contract. He was given consistent minutes with the Heat and played well. In 6 games with the Heat, Jones averaged career-highs in points per game (8), rebounds per game (4), assists per game (0.8), field goal percentage (53.1%), and 3-point percentage (40%). Despite that, he was not re-signed when his 10-day contract ended and re-signed with the Skyforce on March 23rd.

After playing a few more games in the D-League, Jones was signed to a 10-day contract by the San Antonio Spurs, the defending-champions of the NBA. He received limited minutes in three games with the Spurs and only scored two points during his stint with the team.

Jones was not re-signed by the Spurs after his 10-day contract expired, but was quickly signed by the Denver Nuggets for the remainder of the season. Jones finished out the season in his second stint with Nuggets and played two more games with them, both wins. In the last regular season game of his career, he scored 5 points and pulled down 4 rebounds against his former team, the Grizzlies.

Jones played with 5 different NBA teams during the 2007-2008 season alone and put up averages of 3.8 points and 2 rebounds while shooting 42.9% from the field in 47 games.

During the offseason, on July 28th, 2008, he was traded along with Taurean Green and a 2010 second round drat pick to the New York Knicks for Renaldo Balkman and cash considerations. However, he was released by the Knicks the next day. The Miami Heat, his former team, claimed him off waivers from New York on August 5th, but waived him 10 days later on August 15th. Jones was later invited to training camp for the Sacramento Kings, but didn't make the team and was waived on October 21, 2008.

Though he couldn't seem to keep a roster spot on a NBA team, Jones didn't give up. He played the 2008-2009 season in the D-League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, hoping for another chance in the league. However, he was never called up by an NBA team. He started 46 out of 49 games with the Skyforce that season and averaged 16.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. Sioux Falls finished the season with a 25-25 record and didn't qualify for the playoffs.

Since 2009, Jones has played overseas with multiple professional teams in Italy. He is 28 years old and probably won't play in the NBA again, but should be known as a great defensive player who always gave 100% effort. His career NBA averages are 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 91 games with 6 different teams.

Sources:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jonesbo02.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbdl/players/j/jonesbo01d.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jonesbo02/gamelog/2007/
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jonesbo02/gamelog/2008/
http://www.nba.com/draft2006/profiles/BobbyJones.html
http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/transactions_06-07.html
http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/transactions_07-08.html
http://www.nba.com/dleague/siouxfalls/jones_080226.html
http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/news/bobby_jones_10_day_contract-080110.html
http://videos.sacbee.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=2233240&item_index=4&all=1&sort=NULL
http://www.nba.com/kings/news/kings_waive_felix_jones.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbdl/years/2009.html
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/players/playerpage/1113162
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jones_(basketball,_born_1984)
http://blog.shamsports.com/2010/03/where-are-they-now-2010-part-35.html

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