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The playing days of Brooklyn Nets assistant coaches, longtime NBA journeymen and former Denver Nuggets teammates Popeye Jones and Doug Overton are well behind them, but as their feats and triumphs begin to fade with time, a resurgence of talent that hits close to home is deep in the making. The 1999 signing of Jones to the Nuggets coincidentally had a grander impact on his son Seth’s professional career than his own. While residing in the snowy city of Denver had its hindrances due to the unkind temperatures and icy highways leading into town, Seth took to a different sport than that of his father. “We lived in Denver for eight years and it first started with his older brother (Justin),” said Jones. “They were playing roller hockey with other kids in the neighborhood and once it started getting cold in Denver, because we moved to Denver in August of ’99, the kids go inside and play ice hockey. My kids wanted to try, and then off we went to the store. Seth was a little fellow, probably about 4 years old, tailing along and he got some skates and a stick and some equipment also.” SLAM

Brooklyn Nets, Popeye Jones, NHL, Seth Jones 

“These are players you can build your team around,” said NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr and his staff according to Predators.com. “We think Seth’s game is still going to develop, as are [Nathan] MacKinnon and [Jonathan] Drouin, but we had no reason to remove Seth from that No. 1 spot.” Jay-Z has also taken a strong interest in Seth’s future, wanting to be involved in his potential branding and marketing appeal via Roc Nation Sports (a partner of CAA Sports who also represents Popeye). Being from a mixed background but predominately seen as an African-American, Seth has the probability of being the Tiger Woods of hockey. His impact is limitless, and Jay-Z would love to strike a deal. “When Seth comes to the NHL Draft (in Newark, NJ) in June, his family, agents at CAA and Roc Nation are going to have a powwow to see if he’ll sign with them,” a source told Page 6 of the New York Post. SLAM

Brooklyn Nets, Popeye Jones, Jay-Z, NHL, Seth Jones, Dan Marr 

Avery Johnson tried to sell the Nets on making assistant Popeye Jones interim coach after his firing, but they opted for Carlesimo, a source said. Yahoo! Sports

Brooklyn Nets, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, Coaching 

Seth Jones probably should have wound up a basketball player. He is tall, with a great vertical leap, and his father is Popeye Jones, who played 11 years in the N.B.A. and is now an assistant coach with the Nets. But instead, Seth Jones, 18, is projected to be a top pick in the N.H.L. draft and may be on his way to becoming hockey’s first African-American star. “I’d be shocked myself if I heard a story like that,” Jones said, when asked if people are surprised by the combination of a basketball father and a hockey son. “Me and my two brothers all play hockey, so it was weird, I guess, that none of us played basketball.” New York Times

Popeye Jones, NHL, Seth Jones 

On the ice he is a commanding presence, a hard hitter. But more often he is the rare defenseman who can control a game’s tempo with his stickhandling and passing — a “full-package defenseman,” in the words of Phil Housley, the United States coach. Probably not what anyone expected from a son of Popeye Jones. “No one wants to live in their father’s footsteps,” Seth Jones said this week when the United States team held a three-day training camp at the Rangers’ practice rink in Greenburgh, N.Y., before heading to Europe. “I think the time will come when I stop getting those questions and everyone knows the story. That’s just my family and my background and part of my life.” New York Times

Popeye Jones, NHL, Seth Jones 

Jones acknowledged that the two sports did not have much in common, but said he learned from watching basketball players. “The persons I watched closely were Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd,” he said, recalling when his father was an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. “You’d see Dirk back there behind the scenes taking jump shots before and after games, before and after practices. It just taught me to keep working hard when no ones’s watching, and the person you are behind the scenes is your true self.” Seth never played organized basketball, but some of Popeye’s basketball DNA seems to have rubbed off. “We played basketball in Ann Arbor a lot the last couple years, and he’s got a lot of talent,” said Brady Skjei, a United States teammate who spent two years with Jones at the National Team Development Program. “Great hands, a soft stroke, a terrific shot.” Jones said: “I actually am pretty good at basketball, I have to admit. I have a nice two-way game, I think.” New York Times

Popeye Jones, NHL, Seth Jones 

You may remember Popeye from his brief stint with the Celtics, or his years as a well-traveled but serviceable rebounder, or his numerous coaching jobs around the league or his role as captain of the NBA’s all-time All-Ugly team. (Dale Ellis, Gheorghe Muresan, Jeff Hornacek and Sam Cassell round out the starting five). But I bet you didn’t know that Jones’ son is currently one of the best hockey prospects in the entire world. (I didn’t either, until I read about it this morning on Ben Rohrbach’s tumblr.) Seth Jones is a projected top-three pick in next year’s NHL Entry Draft and the 17-year-old is USA Hockey’s top rated underage prospect. He’s also the son of a well-traveled NBA player and coach.

 “I guess when you sit back and think about it, it is odd for a professional basketball player’s son to play hockey at such a high level,” Popeye Jones said in a phone interview with CSNWashington.com. CSNNE.com

Popeye Jones, NHL 

Popeye Jones is a lug of a man who is 6-8 and was listed at 265 pounds at the end of his 11-year run as an NBA power forward. The middle of his three sons is good-sized for a young hockey player, 6-4 and about 200 as he nears his 18th birthday this October. Portland Tribune

Popeye Jones 

Seth Jones – whose Western Hockey League rights were acquired by Portland from Everett this season – is one of the top junior prospects in the country. The captain of the under-18 team with the National Hockey Development Program, he would have been one of the top 10 picks in this year’s NHL draft, though he was too young to be eligible. Portland Tribune

Popeye Jones 

The names I’ve heard are the leading candidates to join Avery Johnson’s staff are P.J. Carlesimo and Mario Elie – both of whom have relationships with Johnson. As we’ve written before Sam Mitchell probably won’t be back. But the Nets won’t do anything with their staff until the lockout is settled. Tom Barrise, Popeye Jones and Doug Overton return, of course. Bergen Record

New Jersey Nets, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, Coaching, Sam Mitchell, Mario Elie 

Stefan Bondy: Popeye Jones will b promoted on Nets bench, Tom Barise also coming back, D. Overton has more responsibilities but remain bhind the bench Twitter

New Jersey Nets, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, Coaching 

Popeye doesn't know much about hockey, not like basketball where he is an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets. Over the years, he has stood in the back of rinks, a giant of a man trying to hide as he watched his sons skating across the ice. He calls out encouragement. He has learned the game but not enough that he can break down their performances. Once, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, he bumped into Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche. "My sons want to play hockey, what do I do?" he asked. Sakic stared at the man towering before him. "They'll probably be big," Sakic replied. Yahoo! Sports

New Jersey Nets, Popeye Jones 

Popeye can tell Seth is going to be very good. It doesn't take the trained eye of a hockey expert to realize he has skill. He's a defenseman, 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, physical but not intimidating. When Popeye watches Seth play, he sees a leader. The first word that comes to mind is "intelligent." He glides with purpose, weaving through players, never firing the puck too hard or too soft. "When he's playing I see a calmness," Popeye says. "I see the ability when he is on the ice that more often than not he will make the right decision." Yahoo! Sports

New Jersey Nets, Popeye Jones 

"When it needs to go fast he speeds it up," Cole says. "When it needs to go slow he slows it down. His poise and maturity are an interesting combination. He's a tremendously mature young man as well." Cole pauses. "That kid was born to play hockey," he says. Yahoo! Sports

New Jersey Nets, Popeye Jones 

You might remember he released a short list of finalists for the football job that eventually went to Chris Hatcher a year and a half ago. Ward says he does not plan to do that with this vacancy. Tuesday's hot rumor had former Racer great Popeye Jones being interested in the position. After a long nba career, he's currently an assistant with the New Jersey Nets. Jones is the school's all-time leading rebounder, fourth-all-time leading scorer, and his jersey hangs from the rafters of the CFSB Center. He told the Murray Ledger and Times he hasn't talked with Ward or anyone at Murray State, but called the opening 'intriguing.' "It was something where I thought, 'Man, it would be fun to do that someday,'"As I'm growing in coaching, I'm loving what I'm doing, but Murray State is in my heart. I'm a Racer for life. I still follow the Racers very closely." WPSD Local 6

New Jersey Nets, Popeye Jones, Coaching 

Former NBA head coaches Sam Mitchell and Larry Krystkowiak have been named assistants for Avery Johnson with the New Jersey Nets. John Loyer, Popeye Jones and Tom Barrise were also named to Johnson's staff. "Avery has assembled a staff that brings a wealth of NBA experience to the sidelines," said new Nets general manager Billy King. "Their collective knowledge of the game, gained from both playing and coaching in the league, will be an invaluable asset to the head coach as well as our players." Toronto Sun

Former Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak is among those in the running for a job as an assistant to Avery Johnson, the new coach of the New Jersey Nets. Krystkowiak is expected to interview for the position sometime this week. Johnson has so far added Sam Mitchell – a former Bucks assistant – and Popeye Jones to his staff that also includes holdovers Tom Barrise and John Loyer. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

New Jersey Nets, Popeye Jones, Coaching