Cleveland Cavaliers veteran small forward James Jones will retire following the end of next season, he told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal:
Jones told the Beacon Journal he will retire after next season, which will be his 15th in the NBA. His ultimate dream is to ride off following three consecutive championships in Cleveland, he said Friday, although clearly there is a lot of work to do before that happens.
“I know playing 15 years is a number where I can look back and I can be like, ‘I accomplished something,” Jones said. “Fourteen vs. 15 may not be much, but to be able to say I played 15 years, that’s enough for me to hang ‘em up.”
Jones, who turned 36 in October, began giving serious thought to retirement last summer after the Cavs’ championship, which was the third of his career.
“After winning it last summer I felt great. I can continue to play, I love the game a lot. But at some point, you have to know,” he said. “And watching guys who continue to play this game at a high level near the end of their careers, I just wanted to make sure when I did go out I knew when I was going out, so I don’t have to leave anything in the tank. And if I didn’t have enough left in the tank to get there, it’d make it easy for me before that time comes to hang it up.”
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Planning a retirement party that’s 18 months away leaves plenty of time to change his mind, and Jones acknowledges that’s always possible,
“This is what I’m thinking today,” Jones said. “This is my thought right now. This is my plan.”
Jones, who LeBron James called his favorite player of all time, played with James in Miami, and then followed him to Cleveland.
Jones has never been a star. He’s an experienced vet and a great teammate who does whatever he can to help his team. Jones has been a superb three-point marksman throughout his career. He is a career 40% long-range shooter, and won the three-point shooting contest at All-Star Weekend in 2011.
