www.islandstats.com teamed up with coach Charles Hatcher and had the opportunity to interview NBA Legend Wali Jones.
Born in Philadelphia, Jones played at Overbrook High School, the same school that had produced Wilt Chamberlain a few years earlier. He played college ball for coach Jack Kraft at Villanova University where he would earn Philadelphia's BIG-5 Player of the Year honors 2x in a row for 1963 and 1964 and become a 3rd-Team All-American as a senior.
In his first NBA season, Jones played for the Baltimore Bullets and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. The next season, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers where he would play for the next six years.
Jones and Hal Greer were the starting guards on the 1966–67 76ers team that also featured Chamberlain, Chet Walker, Lucious Jackson, Billy Cunningham and included fellow Villanova alum - Bill Melchionni. That team went 68-13 during the regular season, then easily won three playoff series in dethroning the eight-time defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. Jones made the 76ers' starting lineup after Larry Costello tore his Achilles tendon on January 6th, 1967. The NBA Champion 1967 Philadelphia 76ers squad is considered one of the greatest teams ever assembled in NBA history.
Later, Jones played for the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Stars.
Jones took us on a history lesson throughout his career.
