Asjha Jones

American basketball player (born 1980)

Asjha Takera Jones (born August 1, 1980) is a former American professional women's basketball power forward and coach who is now on the staff of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2019, she became the first person to win a WNBA title as both a player and a coach. Jones is one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World cup gold and a WNBA Championship.

At the age of three, Jones began playing basketball in a local park. Born in Piscataway, New Jersey, she began playing AAU ball at the age of eleven, but she was playing neighborhood ball before then. She tried to interest the girls in playing, but couldn't convince them, so she played basketball with the boys. By the age of twelve, she reached her adult height, so she was taller than most of her teammates, boys and girls. Her shoe matched her age for a time, until she peaked out at size 13. As a senior, Jones played on the high school team that went to the stale finals. In the semi final game against the Shawnee Renegades, the opposing team knew they had to contain Jones. While they were successful in limiting her shots from the field (Jones was 3 for 18), they could not stop her rebounding or free throw shooting. Jones had 15 rebounds and hit 6 of 7 free throws to help lead the Piscataway team past Shawnee and on to the finals. The third pick by the Mystics was Stacey Dales, who said about Jones, ""Ashja Jones is one of the toughest players I've ever come up against," Dales Schuman said. "Her physical nature, her stature, her mentality of the game, she's an exceptional player, and I see her as being a tremendous professional athlete." In 2009, Jones was the leading scorer for the Sun team, with 16.7 points per game. When the Lynx won the 2015 WNBA title, Jones became one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, and a WNBA Championship. The others are Ruth Riley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper Dyke, Tamika Catchings, and fellow Huskies Swin Cash, Kara Wolters, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Maya Moore. In 2018, Jones was hired as a player development coach by the Washington Mystics, and was part of the staff on the 2019 championship team. On December 3, 2019, Jones was promoted to assistant coach for the Mystics.

On April 25, 2021, it was announced that Jones would join the Portland Trail Blazers as their Director of Basketball Strategy and Planning, a front office position.

Jones was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.

Jones is married to luxury real estate advisor and realtor Jennifer Nolan Jones whom she has two daughters with aged 15 and 24. They also share two dogs and two cats.