The Champ Is Here

Given his lack of significant minutes on the floor, it would be easy to call veteran Cavs swingman JAMES JONES “lucky.” In reality, his three NBA titles are no coincidence. Meet the man LeBron James calls his favorite player of all time.

- Alex Wong

Two years ago, LeBron James called James Jones his favorite player of all time. From afar, the statement drew plenty of raised eyebrows, considering the best player in the world was giving the highest praise to a player who had never averaged double digits in scoring in his career, never averaged more than 25 minutes per game and started a total of 91 NBA games heading into this season.

But for current and former teammates and coaches, LeBron’s comments were no surprise. Perry Clark, who coached Jones at the University of Miami, knows that LeBron respects any player with a high basketball IQ. In that regard, few rank higher on his list than Jones. “LeBron respects certain characteristics in people, and James has those,” Clark says. “James can really sit down and break down and analyze a game. He knows how to communicate and make people feel comfortable around him.”

Even as a senior at Miami, when Jones averaged 16.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks, Clark remembers Jones as the vocal leader of the team. He leaned on Jones to get a sense of where the locker room was at throughout the season, whether it was deciding on team curfews or how long the team should practice between games. “He cares so much about the players on the team,” Clark says. “He’s got a lot of pride in himself and in doing things the right way.”