Here is a link to the sports illustrated article from Feb. 1972 when Chones left Marquette 21-0, second ranked in the country for the ABA nets and $1.5 million. Father Raynor had a 2 am press conference.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1085830/1/index.htm
Anybody know what Jim Chones is doing now?
I know he had a decent Pro career and for a while was doing some announcing with the Cavaliers. He likely is retired and enjoying the good life--but does anybody know?
prompting the thread, "How good would MU be with Jim Chones..."
Quote from: willie warrior on February 11, 2011, 10:20:34 AM
Anybody know what Jim Chones is doing now?
I know he had a decent Pro career and for a while was doing some announcing with the Cavaliers. He likely is retired and enjoying the good life--but does anybody know?
Found this on wikipedia:
"For the 2010-2011 season, usual Cavs radio voice Joe Tait will miss the first two months of the season as he recovers from surgery/illness. During this time, Chones and WTAM morning co-host/sports director and Cavs pregame/postgame host Mike Snyder will form the interim radio play by play team"
Well, can't really blame the guy given his circumstances and the amount of money they threw at him. A little bit different than the Mbakwe situation.
Quote from: 1001 N. 4th St. on February 11, 2011, 10:27:02 AM
prompting the thread, "How good would MU be with Jim Chones..."
and Larry McNeil and Maurice Lucas.
Lost each one of them in three consecutive years. If each had stayed for their senior seasons, who knows how that would have changed the landscape of MU basketball.
This brings back some bad memories. I really thought the Warriors had a chance to knock off UCLA with Chones to go against Bill Walton. I was mid-way through basic training, with only Sunday's off to read a newspaper. I was stunned, and pissed. It's hard to believe how good Marquette was back then winning the NIT in '70 (when the NIT was something good) after Al McGuire got mad at the NCAA; on the was to the Final Four when Chones left in '72; lost in the title game to NC State in '74; and champs in '77.
In some ways Al McGuire was a goof, but he was a great basketball coach. He took on all the big boys and came out on top more often than not.
If I'm not mistaken they lost 2 of their final four games after chones left. They beat Ohio in the first round of the tourney before losing to Kentucky. Chones-Walton matchup would have been sweet. The finals that year were in Los Angeles.
Quote from: willie warrior on February 11, 2011, 10:20:34 AM
Anybody know what Jim Chones is doing now?
I know he had a decent Pro career and for a while was doing some announcing with the Cavaliers. He likely is retired and enjoying the good life--but does anybody know?
I facebook with his daughter who used to work for me years ago. She played at MU, great gal. He is doing well. Some might be interested in this
http://jameschones.com/jim.htm
I was at Chones' last game as a Warrior as we kicked the asses of a very good Jacksoville team. Woke up the next morning for class and heard the unimaginable news that Jimmy bolted for the Nets right after the game. Still to this day I believe Al had prior knowledge of what was goin' down, especially since Carneseca was goin' to be coaching' Chones.
Too bad for MU. The Warriors were legit championship material with #22 in the middle.
Two links to the Milwaukee Journal the day Chones left MU
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HjYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6624%2C4578334
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HjYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7042%2C4771038
Interesting atmosphere back then. Player could be having contact with agents and pro teams in the middle of the season and not fear losing eligibility I guess.
BTW, Chones has never gotten the respect he should have in the 1980 NBA Finals when he played center for the Kareem-less Lakers. Yeah, Magic jumped center...which has morphed over time into a "he replaced Kareem" line. But Magic didn't replace Kareem under the basket. Chones did that, had a solid double-double, and pretty much shut down Daryl Dawkins.
Quote from: The Sultan of South Wayne on February 11, 2011, 01:33:09 PM
BTW, Chones has never gotten the respect he should have in the 1980 NBA Finals when he played center for the Kareem-less Lakers. Yeah, Magic jumped center...which has morphed over time into a "he replaced Kareem" line. But Magic didn't replace Kareem under the basket. Chones did that, had a solid double-double, and pretty much shut down Daryl Dawkins.
Yeah, Chones had a double double that night. Think he held Dawkins to only a few rebounds.
Quote from: groove on February 11, 2011, 02:17:28 PM
Yeah, Chones had a double double that night. Think he held Dawkins to only a few rebounds.
Some people forget that in the 1980 finals, three Warriors participated...Chones and Butch Lee for the Lakers. Butch only scored 14 points the entire season. Bernard Toone played for the Sixers
Toone played 1 minute total in the 6 game series. Lee did not play at all.
Chones played in every game, scored 50 points and grabbed 42 rebounds.
'Cept Butch gets to be in the widely circulated photo hugging Magic. I guess the pleasure was all his.
remember when Butch almost beat the US single handedly in the '76 olympics.
Yep, that's the origin of Rican's screen name.
Quote from: groove on February 11, 2011, 11:59:29 AM
Two links to the Milwaukee Journal the day Chones left MU
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HjYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6624%2C4578334
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HjYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7042%2C4771038
Interesting atmosphere back then. Player could be having contact with agents and pro teams in the middle of the season and not fear losing eligibility I guess.
What a great link! I can remember Chones leaving well. Loved reading the other parts of the paper too. Brings back great memories. I was attending grad school at MU, living on 27th Street, just gotten married and working at the Stoned Toad. Watching MU with Lennys Tap.
rocky sez: fixed quote
I just finished reading Loose Balls a history of the ABA and there was a few pages on Chones jumping mid-season. Al was very involved, he turned down a number of offers because the money wasn't good enough but the Nets was too good to pass up. One of the interesting points in the book was how much of these reported ABA contracts were deferred compensation, I think Chones got 150k year for 4 years and the rest was paid out 10 years later over 20 years or something like that.
Highly recommend the book for any basketball junkie, good stories on Chones and Lucas and AL.
Off the topic, heard Frank Layden, old jazz coach, on the radio the other day and Al introduced him to his wife one night at the McGuire tavern in Rockaway Beach. Layden had some great stories and was hilarious. He was on ESPN 1000 Chicago, interview is probabaly on their website.