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Kevin Love, LeBron James send love to James Jones on new position with Suns

“Champ” may be gone, but his teammates gave him some love on the way out the door.

By Carter Rodriguez
Atlanta Hawks v Cleveland Cavaliers - Game Three Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Cavalier veteran forward James Jones decided to hang ‘em up and retire, and the Suns announced that they were hiring Jones on as their Vice President of Basketball Operations yesterday.

Jones was among the most popular teammates in the entire NBA, and both LeBron James and Kevin Love took to social media to give him some love.

Jones is incredibly beloved, and Kevin Love has specifically said that he was the best teammate he ever had. LeBron, for his part, has talked about how he wouldn’t let Jones retire and that as long as he was playing, there would be a roster spot for the rarely-used swingman.

Jones is a peculiar case of a player who, for much of his career, didn’t see the floor. Most guys don’t make 14-year careers out of averages of 5.2 points and 1.8 rebounds, but Jones did. It proves that there’s still a ton of intangible value that a player can bring to a locker room that as outsiders, we’ll never see.

Jones will certainly be missed in the Cavs locker room. We’ll see if he can have the same affect on the Suns organization as a whole.

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