Celtics legend and Basketball Hall of Famer K.C. Jones has died at age 88, the team announced Friday afternoon.
Jones won 11 NBA championships with the Celtics -- eight straight as a player from 1959-66, one as an assistant coach in 1981, and two as head coach in 1984 and 1986. He won another championship as an assistant coach with the Lakers in 1972.
Jones was drafted by the Celtics in 1956 out of the University of San Francisco, where he won two national championships playing alongside future Celtics teammate Bill Russell. Jones, Russell and Tommy Heinsohn were all selected by the Celtics in the same draft.
Jones also joined Russell in helping the United States win Olympic gold in 1956, making him one of seven players in history to win an NCAA championship, NBA championship and Olympic gold medal.
Jones began his coaching career as the head coach at Brandeis University after retiring from the NBA in 1967. He also spent one year as an assistant at Harvard before joining former Celtics teammate Bill Sharman's staff with the Lakers.
He became head coach of the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors in 1972 before landing his first NBA head coaching job the following year with the Washington Bullets, whom he took to the NBA Finals in 1975.
Jones returned to Boston as an assistant coach from 1978-83 before taking over the Larry Bird-lead team as head coach. The Celtics won the title in his first season and then again in 1986, as he guided arguably the greatest team in NBA history.
Jones remains one of two Black head coaches to win multiple NBA titles along with Russell.