Jones leaves behind a legacy of greatness, having won 12 National Basketball Association (NBA) Championships as a player and a coach as well as two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles.

He is one of only eight players to win basketball's "Triple Crown" of an NBA, NCAA and Olympic title.

The US won 89-55 in the Olympic final against the Soviet Union to win the gold medal.

Jones passed away yesterday, as announced by the Boston Celtics where he spent his entire playing career from 1958 to 1967, winning eight NBA titles there.

As a coach, he was an NBA Championship winner with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Celtics as an assistant, before winning two as the head coach of the Celtics in 1984 and 1986.

He died in an assisted living care home in Connecticut in the US.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was one of those who paid tribute to the late player.

"KC Jones was among the most decorated champions in the history of our game," said Silver.

"KC's extraordinary accomplishments and impact will long be remembered."

Fellow Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn, who played on the same team as Jones and also won two championships with the team as a head coach, passed away in November aged 86.

Billy Evans, who was also part of the 1956 Olympic squad that won gold, died a few weeks ago, also at the age of 88.

In four of the five seasons in which Jones was the head coach of the Celtics, he took them to the NBA Finals and is regarded as one of the franchise's greatest coaches.

Only Chicago Bulls and Lakers head coach Phil Jackson and Jones' former Celtics' head coach Red Auerbach have won more titles than Jones.

Jackson won two titles as a player and 11 as a coach while Auerbach won nine as a coach and seven as an executive.