Phill Jones

Phillip Charles George "Phill" Jones (born 25 January 1974) is a New Zealand former professional basketball player who played the majority of his career with the Nelson Giants of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). The two-time Olympian has scored more points in the New Zealand NBL than any other Kiwi player and is second overall in league scoring history. In 2004, he ranked second among all points scorers at the Athens Olympics. In 2016, he became the first player in New Zealand NBL history to reach 400 games.

Born in Christchurch, Jones grew up in Reefton, where he attended Inangahua College. In 1992, Jones moved to Nelson to play high school basketball at Nelson College.

In 1993, Jones debuted in the New Zealand NBL for the Nelson Giants, playing with the club for six seasons. Following the 1998 season, Jones moved to Finland to play for Kouvot of the Korisliiga. Following the 1998–99 season, Jones returned to New Zealand and played for the Otago Nuggets during the 1999 NZNBL season. After one season with the Nuggets, he re-joined the Giants and played for them every year until 2016 (bar 2005 and 2007).

In 2000–01, Jones again played for Kouvot in Finland. He then split the 2001–02 season with Honka Espoo and Kouvot.

In the summer of 2002, Jones signed with Oregon Scientific Cantù of Italy for the 2002–03 season.

In 2003, Jones signed with the New Zealand Breakers for their inaugural season in the Australian NBL.

In 2004, Jones re-signed with Cantù, playing for them until 2007. Jones subsequently missed out on the Giants' 2007 championship after returning from Italy two days too late to complete his five-game requirement to be eligible to join the Nelson roster.

In July 2007, Jones signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Breakers, returning to the club for a second stint.

In July 2009, Jones signed with the Cairns Taipans, spending two seasons with the club where he reached the 2011 Grand Final, a series the Taipans ironically lost to the Breakers.

On 10 May 2014, Jones played his 350th game for the Nelson Giants in a loss to the Southland Sharks. Six days later, he tied the all-time record for NBL games played in a loss to the Hawke's Bay Hawks. Jones played his 361st game, tying the record with NBL great Willie Burton who played from 1985 to 2006. On 23 May, he broke Burton's record, playing his 362nd game in a win over the Manawatu Jets. On 27 June, Jones' jersey number 13 was retired by the Giants, and on 4 July, he played his 369th game in the Giants' 87–71 semi-final loss to the Wellington Saints.

Following his retirement from playing professionally following the 2014 season, Jones was appointed the Giants' managing director. However, in March 2015, he came out of retirement and re-joined the Giants playing group for the NBL Pre-season Blitz. New head coach Tim Fanning managed to convince Jones to commit for another year, as he joined the squad to add much needed depth for the 2015 season. He continued on with the Giants in 2016 as well, and on 19 March 2016, he passed 7,000 points for his career. On 25 April 2016, he became the first player in New Zealand NBL history to reach 400 games. In September 2016, he called time on his career, this time for good.

In January 2016, Jones was appointed head coach of the Nelson Sparks, a women's team playing in New Zealand's Women's Basketball Championship (WBC).

In June 2008, after playing for the Tall Blacks for 14 years, Jones retired from international basketball.

Jones is the son of John and Carol Jones. He and his wife, Kat, have three children: Maia, Hayden and Ava. His brother, Johnno, is married to wife, Megan.