K.C. Jones, Wilkens Are Named to Hall of Fame

K.C. Jones and Lenny Wilkens, once rival guards in the National Basketball Assn., were together again Friday after their election to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

“This is the sort of thing that happens to superstars, not people who can’t shoot,” said Jones, who retired last year as coach of the Boston Celtics, for whom he played nine years. “I just did the blue-collar-type things.”

Wilkens disagreed.

“K.C. was a fine player,” said Wilkens, now coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. “When he played you on defense, it was like wearing a glove.”

Wilkens ranks third in the NBA in assists with 7,211. He averaged 16.5 points and 6.7 assists a game during a 15-year professional career with St. Louis, Seattle, Portland and Cleveland. He will coach the East Team in Sunday’s NBA All-Star game at Houston.

Jones averaged only 7.4 points a game with the Celtics, but he contributed an average of 4.9 assists as Boston won eight straight NBA championships.

Also named was William (Pop) Gates, 71, who played with the New York Renaissance and other teams during the game’s barnstorming years in the 1930s and ‘40s.