I'll take Sam over any player who's ever walked on a court." On March 9, 1969, nearly two months before Jones hung up his sneakers for good, the Celtics retired his No. 24 jersey to TD Garden rafters.

In the closing seconds of Game 4 in the 1969 NBA Finals, the Celtics ran a real-life version of the Hoosiers "picket fence". Sam Jones came off the screens and got a shooter&apos ...