Dahntay Lavall Jones (born December 27, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before becoming a coach, he played college basketball for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Duke Blue Devils. Jones played in the NBA as a small forward and shooting guard from 2003 to 2017. He achieved a major goal by winning an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Early Life and High School Basketball
College Basketball Career
- Playing for the Duke Blue Devils
Professional Basketball Journey
Coaching Career
NBA Career Statistics
- Regular Season
- Playoffs
Personal Life
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and High School Basketball

Dahntay Jones grew up in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. He was a star basketball player at Steinert High School from 1995 to 1998. In his senior year, he showed great talent, averaging 24 points and 9 rebounds per game. Because of his excellent performance, he received an honorable mention for the McDonald's All-American Game, which is a big honor for high school basketball players.

College Basketball Career

Dahntay started his college basketball journey at Rutgers University. He played there for his freshman and sophomore years. After that, he transferred to Duke University, a very famous basketball school.

Playing for the Duke Blue Devils

At Duke, Dahntay continued to improve his skills. In 2002, during his junior year, he was recognized for his strong play. He averaged 11.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. This earned him an honorable mention for the All-ACC team. In his final year at Duke, his senior season, he played in 33 games. He had impressive averages of 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.

Professional Basketball Journey

Dahntay Jones had a long career in professional basketball, playing for several teams in the NBA and its development league.

Starting with the Memphis Grizzlies (2003–2007)

In the 2003 NBA draft, Dahntay was picked 20th overall by the Boston Celtics. However, his draft rights were soon traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. He made his NBA debut on November 21, 2003. During his four seasons with the Grizzlies, Jones averaged 5.0 points per game.

Moving to Other Teams (2007–2009)

After leaving the Grizzlies, Jones played briefly for the Sacramento Kings in 2007. He also spent some time in the NBA Development League (now called the G League) with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2008. Later in 2008, he joined the Denver Nuggets.

Jones playing for the Nuggets in 2009

With the Nuggets, he helped the team reach the Western Conference Finals in 2009. This was a big achievement, showing his contribution to a successful team.

Playing for the Indiana Pacers (2009–2012)

In 2009, Dahntay signed a four-year contract with the Indiana Pacers. He played his first game for the Pacers on October 28, scoring 17 points and grabbing five rebounds. He was an important player for the Pacers during his time there.

Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks (2012–2013)

In 2012, Jones was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He played for them before being traded again in 2013 to the Atlanta Hawks. He played for the Hawks for a short period. After this, he did not play in the NBA during the 2013–14 season.

Return to the Development League and Clippers (2014–2015)

Dahntay returned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBA Development League in late 2014. In January 2015, he signed a short contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. He eventually signed with them for the rest of the season. During his time with the Clippers, he was fined $10,000 by the league for accidentally bumping into Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors after a game.

Grand Rapids Drive and NBA Championship (2015–2017)

In late 2015, Jones played for the Grand Rapids Drive in the NBA Development League. His big moment came in April 2016 when he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Winning the NBA Championship

Dahntay joined the Cavaliers just before the playoffs. During the Eastern Conference Finals, he was suspended for one game for an incident with a Toronto Raptors player. However, the Cavaliers won that series and advanced to the 2016 NBA Finals. In the Finals, the Cavaliers faced the Golden State Warriors. They made an amazing comeback from being down 3-1 in the series to win the championship in seven games! This was Dahntay Jones' first NBA championship, a huge highlight of his career.

He continued with the Cavaliers in the 2016–17 season. During the playoffs, he received two technical fouls in a game for showing too much emotion. His teammate, LeBron James, even covered the $6,000 fine for him! The Cavaliers reached the 2017 NBA Finals again but lost to the Warriors this time. Dahntay's final NBA game was Game 4 of those Finals.

Coaching Career

After his playing career, Dahntay Jones transitioned into coaching. On November 16, 2020, he was announced as a player development and video coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. In this role, he helps players improve their skills and studies game footage.

NBA Career Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular Season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	Memphis	20	0	7.8	.283	.250	.455	1.1	.6	.3	.3	1.8
2004–05	Memphis	52	7	12.5	.437	.383	.688	1.3	.4	.3	.2	4.5
2005–06	Memphis	71	4	13.6	.414	.143	.645	1.5	.5	.5	.2	4.0
2006–07	Memphis	78	25	21.4	.477	.417	.793	2.0	.9	.5	.3	7.5
2007–08	Sacramento	25	0	8.2	.434	.167	.667	1.4	.5	.3	.2	3.2
2008–09	Denver	79	71	18.1	.458	.647	.728	2.1	1.0	.6	.2	5.4
2009–10	Indiana	76	26	24.9	.461	.125	.770	3.0	2.0	.5	.5	10.2
2010–11	Indiana	45	2	13.1	.467	.359	.767	1.4	.7	.4	.2	6.3
2011–12	Indiana	65	3	16.2	.409	.429	.838	1.8	1.0	.4	.2	5.3
2012–13	Dallas	50	15	12.7	.357	.216	.805	1.4	.6	.2	.1	3.5
2012–13	Atlanta	28	4	13.6	.390	.250	.677	1.1	.7	.4	.0	3.1
2014–15	L.A. Clippers	33	0	3.7	.286	.000	.818	.3	.1	.1	.0	.6
2015–16†	Cleveland	1	0	42.0	.429	.500	.000	5.0	2.0	1.0	2.0	13.0
2016–17	Cleveland	1	0	12.0	.375	.000	.750	2.0	1.0	.0	.0	9.0
Career		624	157	15.7	.439	.329	.751	1.7	.8	.4	.2	5.4

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005	Memphis	3	0	24.0	.381	.600	.750	3.0	.3	.3	.0	7.3
2006	Memphis	4	0	11.5	.714	.000	.000	1.8	.0	.3	.0	4.3
2009	Denver	16	16	17.5	.481	.250	.767	2.4	.6	.8	.3	7.0
2011	Indiana	3	0	16.7	.450	.000	.889	.7	.7	.3	.0	8.7
2012	Indiana	7	0	8.3	.222	.222	1.000	1.0	.4	.1	.0	2.4
2013	Atlanta	5	0	3.8	.250	.000	1.000	.2	.0	.0	.0	.8
2015	L.A. Clippers	11	0	1.6	1.000	.000	.000	.1	.0	.2	.0	.4
2016†	Cleveland	15	0	3.3	.462	.333	.800	.5	.1	.1	.1	1.1
2017	Cleveland	10	0	3.3	.500	.500	1.000	.7	.1	.0	.1	1.6
Career		74	16	8.5	.448	.294	.812	1.1	.3	.3	.1	3.2

Personal Life

Dahntay Jones' parents are Larry and Joanne Jones. His father also played college basketball at St. Peter's College. Dahntay has a cousin, Al Harrington, who was also a professional basketball player. Dahntay was married to Valeisha Butterfield Jones, and they have two children, Dahntay Jr. and Dillon. He also has three other children from previous relationships.

Images for kids

Jones with the Dallas Mavericks in 2012
Jones playing for the Nuggets in 2009

Dahntay Jones facts for kids

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