Dwight Jones

Dwight Elmo Jones (February 27, 1952 – July 25, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'10" forward/center, he attended E.O. Smith Education Center and Wheatley High School before playing college basketball at the University of Houston from 1970 to 1973. He was the leading scorer and rebounder on the 1972 Olympic team that lost the controversial gold medal game to the Soviet Union. Jones was ejected from that game after an altercation with a Soviet player; it was later revealed that the Soviets intentionally provoked him, as they regarded him as the leader of the U.S. team and wanted him removed from the contest.

The Atlanta Hawks selected Jones as the 9th overall pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played ten seasons in the NBA from 1973 to 1983 with four teams: Atlanta, the Houston Rockets, the Chicago Bulls, and the Los Angeles Lakers. The power forward/center averaged 8.1 points across 766 career regular season games.

His son, Dwight Jones II, played at Houston Baptist University. A 6'3" guard, Jones II was named the Red River Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2005–06 and 2006–07, earning NAIA All-America honors in both seasons. Dwight Jones died on July 25, 2016, at the age of 64.