A Long Island University basketball hall of famer who played for the champion Blackbirds in the early 1970’s was tragically killed in a smoky Bronx blaze this morning — just hours after he watched his beloved team clinch an NCAA tournament bid.
Walter Jones, a retired MTA bus driver, had been a star 6-foot-seven center and was drafted by the Washington Wizards in 1972, but his NBA career was cut short by a knee injury. He went on to play in the European League.
When he returned home, he worked at the Spofford Juvenile Correction Center in Hunts Point before becoming a MTA driver.
“He was a great man, a loving family man, a sportsman,” said Derek Williams, the brother of Jones’ longtime girlfriend Jacqueline Williams and the mother of their grown daughter.
John Brown, a longtime family friend, said, “he’s a stand up gentleman. He never said no. Whatever you’d ask, he’d do. One of a kind, one of a kind. The world needs more people like him.”
The swift 5:40 a.m. fire at 3056 Fenton Ave, in Laconia, was not considered suspicious. A law enforcement source said they were investigating if the cause was an electrical fire that started in the closet where Jones kept his daughter’s old toys.
Jones lived on first floor of two-story house, where he was born and raised. His older sister, Gloria Jones, who lived on the second floor, was taken to Jacobi Hospital for observation. “They looked out for each other,” said his girlfriend, who lives in Yonkers with their daughter, but stayed with him on weekends.
Jones saw the Blackbirds clobber Mount St. Mary 91-70 in the tournament finals. They talked after the game last night, Williams said. They regularly talk three to four times a day, and Jones told her, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.”
“He was a loving father and wonderful companion to me,” a tearful Williams said shortly before leaving to break the news to her daughter. “We met one night out. It was nice. The relationship was 22 years.”
Williams said Jones liked to stay at home at watch movies, unless the couple made special plans to go out.
Additional reporting by Jessica Simeone