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K.C. Jones, a 12-time NBA champion as a player and a coach, a two-time NCAA champion and a Hall of Famer, died Friday, the Celtics confirmed. He was 88 years old.

Jones' legacy as a player and coach will be forever linked to the Boston Celtics, the franchise with which he won 11 championships. He won eight as a player from 1959 to 1966, one as an assistant in 1981 and two as a head coach in 1984 and 1986 -- his trophy cabinet also ironically includes a title with the Lakers as an assistant in 1972. He is tied for third all time for most championships won by a single player, and is the only Black coach other than Bill Russell to win multiple NBA championships.

Another name Jones is heavily connected to is fellow Hall of Famer Bill Russell. Jones and Russell won two NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956 as players for the University of San Francisco. The two, along with another Boston great in Sam Jones, were one of three Celtics players to be on all eight of those consecutive championship rosters. They were also part of the first all-Black starting lineup in NBA history. That lineup made its appearance in the 1963-64 season featuring Jones, Willie Naulls, Tom "Satch" Sanders, Russell and Sam Jones. Russell reacted on Twitter to news of his teammate's death.  

With all of those accolades, it would be easy to associate him with traditional NBA stardom the way his teammates, like Russell or Bob Cousy, or rivals, like Jerry West or Oscar Robertson, were. But the truth is that Jones's impact was mostly felt on the defensive side of the court, with his box score numbers not catching anyone's eye.

''I just didn't see how a man who shot as poorly as K.C. could stay in the NBA,'' Cousy said in 1983. ''I really didn't think his other skills would be enough to keep him around. But I was wrong. The man turned out to be amazing on defense and eventually learned to score enough so that rival teams couldn't afford not to guard him.''

The concern made its way to local media and fans at the time, who were concerned that the Celtics streak of titles would end after Cousy retired in 1964, leaving Jones as the team's main playmaker. History shows that these concerns were unfounded as repeated that season, beating the San Francisco Warriors in five games.

Jones retired after the eight-title streak was snapped in 1966-67 at age 34. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 as a player and to the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. The former Celtic remains one of seven players in NBA history to an NCAA title, NBA title and Olympic gold medal. The names joining him on that list are Russell, Clyde Lovellette, Jerry Lucas, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Quinn Buckner.