Jones returns to the (playoff) fold

Chris Jones served a six-game suspension for an on-court incident with officials a month ago. The Lightning have welcomed him back, although his role for the postseason remains uncertain.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The London Lightning backcourt will get a postseason boost from a proven team leader taking on a new role and welcoming a second chance.

All-Star point guard Chris Jones has been named to the Lightning playoff roster after serving his league suspension, team officials confirmed Wednesday. Jones has not played a game since an on-court outburst in Sudbury cost him the remainder of his regular season on April 14.

Up until that point, the talented floor general had averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in 17 games.

“To go through what he’s gone through in the last year, Chris is in a mind state right now where he’s just happy to be here,” said Lightning head coach Doug Plumb. “We had an honest talk before making this decision. As a team, we’ve obviously moved in a direction without him, so he knows he needs to come in and do whatever we need him to do on that given day – that could mean 15 minutes, that could mean 30 minutes. I told him he’s Bobby Jackson.”

Jackson, a former Sacramento King guard, was “like a microwave oven off the bench” for the 2003 NBA Pacific Division champions. He averaged 15.2 points per game that season and was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Like Jackson, Jones looks to be a potent weapon off the bench, as not many coaches can reach back and pluck an All-Star or two from the pine.

“To have Chris and Cam (Forte) coming off the bench, that’s the luxury of all luxuries if our guys are playing the way they need to play,” Plumb said. “We still need to keep our emotional resiliency level high. In the playoffs, that’s what it’s all about – who can execute when the intensity crashes through the roof. There are all these external factors trying to bring you down and you just don’t listen to it.”

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Jones finds roster room after guard Jaylon Tate was ruled out for the year. London fans have not seen the talented point guard on the hardwood since April 23 when a knee injury sidelined him, and despite the hopes of a late season recovery, Tate has been ruled out for the entire playoffs. In 18 games, he averaged 12.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists.

The decision to bring Jones back was not an easy one, Plumb stressed.

That night in Sudbury, in which he got in an altercation over a call and threw a water bottle at and spit at a referee, was the end of a terrible few months for the 30-year-old floor general. Jones’s mother, Christy Jones, died after a bout with COVID-19 on July 18, 2021, in Memphis. She was only 48 years old. Her son has been struggling with her loss in the months since.

“Chris regrettably let his emotions get the best of him and acted in a way that not only hurt our team but embarrassed the league and our organization,” Plumb said at the time. “This is not tolerated, and he will not be with us the remainder of the season.”

The outburst resulted in a league suspension for the remainder of the regular season; the Bolts were thought to have cut him the same day – although that cut was never made official.

Instead, Plumb quietly met with Lightning owner Vito Frijia and shaped a plan that gave Jones some time away, but they did not sever him completely from the team.

Jones spent three weeks away from the team working out with assistant coaches – shooting, lifting weights, running sprints, staying overall game ready. The two men “left the door open for a return – but with no guarantees,” Plumb said.

“Chris has done and said all the right things to return,” the head coach continued.

Jones returns with no pressure, as few expected him to be around at all, but he may prove to be a significant X-factor in a guard-heavy matchup against the Windsor Express in the first round of the NBL Canada Playoffs.

“You know what he said to me that really changed my mind about the whole thing?” Plumb said. “I was reading him the riot act, essentially saying how you embarrassed me, the organization, that this is (messed) up. He said, ‘I understand. I take it like a man. I have to accept my fate.’

“There’s nothing that I can say to a guy who’s been through what he’s been through to make him feel worse and understand the gravity of the situation.”