ORLANDO, Fla. - There was a rare sighting at Amway Arena last night. Sam Jones was on hand to watch the Celtics.
Jones has been the J.D. Salinger of the Celtics through the years. He gave us a tremendous body of work, then disappeared. According to Jones, he only has been to Boston twice since hanging 'em up after the 1969 championship season.
"I came back for Red," said Jones, 75, who lives less than two hours from the Orlando arena. "I never go any place unless I'm invited and I haven't been invited."
Jones is coming back to the Hub June 24 to be honored by The Sports Museum as part of the Garden's annual "Tradition" event. Jones has asked Bill Russell to present him at the ceremony.
Celtics managing partner Bob Epstein met with Jones before last night's game and pledged to bring him back into the team's family.
"We need to make sure you're back in Boston," Epstein told Jones.
Jones won 10 rings with the Celtics. He was drafted out of North Carolina Central in 1957 and made it all the way to the Hall of Fame and the NBA's Top 50 list.
"Red never saw me play in college," said Jones. "I was recommended to him by Bones McKinney, one of his former players. I had been drafted by the Lakers before that, but I went into the service and they lost my rights. Baseball was actually my first love. I was a center fielder and played high school ball with Wes Covington."
With the Celtics, Jones had to wait his turn behind Hall of Famers Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, but he never looked back once he got the starting job. Jones wanted to retire when Auerbach left the bench in 1966 but said, "Bill Russell asked me to stay so I played three more seasons."
Wearing No. 24, Jones scored 51 points in a playoff game against the Knicks (1967) and was part of the Celtics teams that won eight consecutive championships. Boston's streak was snapped by Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967.
"We should have won that year, too," said Jones. "We beat those guys the next year and they had the exact same team."
Celtics coach Doc Rivers requested an audience with Jones outside the locker room before the game.
"He's one of the few Celtics that I hadn't met," said Rivers. "It was pretty cool."
Jones still speaks regularly with Cousy, Frank Ramsey, K.C. Jones, and Russell. He said he has never stopped rooting for the Celtics.
"My blood is red, but I bleed green," Jones said.
Marc J. Spears of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 
