|
DETAILS |
|
Enjoys fishing, playing tennis and billiards Rooted for Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers growing up His favorite restaurant is Ruth's Chris Steak House Started the EJ Fountation, a charity underprivilaged kids Deals with Nike and American Express Basketball hero : John Chaney (Temple head coach) Hosted a youth basketball camp in the summer of 1998 Seinfeld favourite TV show
|
|
FAMILY VALUES |
"People just dont understand what he meant to me, as my father and as my freind. Him dying was like a dagger in my heart."
|
|
GENE LENT |
"I notice three players that Eddie loves playing against. If you realy watch him-and it's tough because he's always up for games- but if you watch closly, you can tell he loves to play against Michael Jordan, Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. If you watch any one of those games, he plays real well against all of them because he realy feels theyr'e the present and future stars of this league." -- Gene Lent a friend from school
|
|
PERSONAL |
|
full name: Eddie Charles Jones
nicknames: E.J., Eddie the Pickpocket Jones, Steady Eddie
height: 6-6
weight: 200
birthdate: Oct.20,1971
|
|
EDUCATION |
|
high school: Ely (Pompano Beach, Florida)
college: Temple '94
degree: Sports Management
|
|
DEL HARRIS |
"He lets his game do his talking for him. He doesn't showboat or call attention to himself. I think that's why coaches like him so much and why he's so respected around the league." --Del Harris
|
|
CREDITS |
Info from places like espn.com, nba.com and Maries Eddie Jones Site.
|
|
Eddie Charles Jones went to college at Temple, and as a senior he was named the Atlantic-10 Conference player of the year. He led temple in scoring(19.2), blocks (1.5) and field goal percentage (.470) He was chosen 10th overall in the 1994 Draft He won the MVP of the schick rookie game. Recently named to his first All Star game with many more to come.
|
|
For some stupid reason we (at least I) dont know of Eddie is NOT on the next Dream Team!!!! "I really want to be there," Eddie says. "I want to be on the Olympic team too," he continues. "I want to be there. I'm going to do what I've got to do--defensively, offensively, leadership, whatever it takes for us to win as a team. Then you'll get little things like that. I want to be one of those guys who say, 'Hey, I got a gold medal. I got this. I've done this.' Just to be there, in the glory for the USA."
|
|
Not only does Jones not mind getting lost in the shuffle (of having Shaq, Kobe...), but he also helps make sure that he does. For the most part he limits his public appearances to the time he spends on the court. "My friends know where to find me," he says. "Home." More specifically, at his pool table, honing the skills that have made him the Lakers' resident shark. Jones, who is single, changes his home phone number so often that even his teammates sometimes have a hard time getting in touch with him. "I just don't want my number getting into the wrong hands," he says. He apparently includes booking agents for television shows in that category. When Jones does get media requests, like recent invitations to appear on a pair of late-night talk shows, Vibe and The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show, he has a standard approach. "I say, 'Yeah, I'd like to do that sometime,' and then hope they forget about it or find somebody else before I actually have to do it," he says.
|
|
His parents Charles and Frances Divorced when he was 16. Eddie's dad died of cancer. They were very close and Eddie misses him a lot. His dad would cut out newspaper clippings of Eddie and keep them in his glove compartment and would show them off to everyone. "It was wonderfull man. People just dont understand what he meant to me, as my father and as my freind. Him dying was like a dagger in my heart."
|
|
Eddie wanted to quit school to provide for his mother who had then not yet remarried, but she wouldn't allow it. The only way she could convice him to finish school was to urge him to decicate the season to his father. "When I lost my dad, that was the first time in my life I felt I had somthing to prove. He always talked about me going to school, playing basketball. I had to go out and do that. had to."
|
|
In time Eddie came closer and closer to his mom and steptather (EJ Thigpen), "She became my pillow and helped me make it through. with out both of them I dont think I would have made it."
|
|
Eddie accepted a scolarship to play for Coach John Chaney at Temple but did not get the 700 on his SAT that he needed, which forced him to give up his freshmen year of college basketball. "I no longer was Eddie Jones in poeples eyes," Eddie explaned. "I became 'prop 48' as in 'Prop 48 Eddie Jones wont be eligible at Temple this year' I was branded as stupid. People were thinking 'oh he wont get his degree, he wont make it to the next level.'"
|
|
Eddie had a partner in this mess. Aaron McKie who had no parents to suport him. "We were in it together, " Eddie says. "I'd see Aaron working hard, and knowing where he same from, I knew there was no reason for me not to work just as hard." The two of them and coach Chaney bonded, Chaney becoming another father figure.
|
|
So.. why isn't he as popular and hyped as players like Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson and all those guys? who knows. He doesn't seem to care though. "If people dont see what I got, so be it. I'll just stay home and play pool and watch television. It won't change me." |
|
