On March 27, at the Bedford Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, the New York City basketball community celebrated the homegoing of Kenny Jones, a charismatic, loving, caring, larger-than-life mentor, coach, and caregiver whose legacy is cemented in the history of New York City basketball. Jones passed away on March 19 at the way too young age of 65. Along with his team, Kenny’s Kings, Jones was the subject of the 1997 documentary “Soul in the Hole,” directed by Danielle Gardner, and named after the basketball tournament in which they played.
The film follows Jones and Kenny’s Kings, led by playground legend Ed “Booger” Smith, during a summer of heated hoops battling in the Soul in the Hole tournament at Raymond Bush Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, the venue more commonly known as the Shu Niles Basketball Court. Jones’ passion and love for guiding young people through life using sports is a central theme. Through the many trials and tribulations the players endured, Jones served as an unwavering father figure.
Beyond the documentary, Jones was prominent throughout the New York City basketball community, most notably as an assistant coach with the Thomas Jefferson boys’ high school basketball team in the early 2000s.
In a 2021 interview on the YouTube channel BasketballHeadzz, hosted by Glenn “Pooh” Harding, Jones detailed how he became involved in the Soul in the Hole tournament, recalling a championship appearance in his first year. He explained that his connection with director Danielle Gardner began at a tournament at Long Island University, where she initially planned to film a streetball clip.
After meeting the team, she shifted her focus to documenting their full summer, capturing the raw environment and challenging daily realities the players faced. Jones later shared that during a private screening, he asked Gardner to keep everything in the film to preserve its authenticity.
He also reflected that while he positively affected many young athletes, they also impacted his life, making his time coaching even more meaningful. Among those players was Charles Jones, who began his college career at Rutgers before starring at LIU. Charles Jones had a brief stint in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers in 1999 and played professionally in various leagues for 11 years.
Many of the youth Jones coached have forged successful careers in a range of fields including education, counseling, and yes, coaching. Former Thomas Jefferson player, Kwame Gaddy, shared his thoughts on Jones’ influence.
“I met Coach Jones when he was an assistant and I was a player back in 2004. From the moment I met Coach Jones, you knew that he cared about everyone. He was full of life and laughter and always willing to share stories. Because he cared, he coached everyone hard. He inspired so many young men, including myself. He made you realize you were more than just a basketball player and that you had a bigger purpose in life. That’s something I will never forget.”
May Kenny Jones always be remembered.