Charlie Scott

Charles Thomas Scott (born December 15, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) and eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Scott was an Olympic Gold Medalist and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

For the English footballer, see Charlie Scott (footballer).
Charlie Scott
Personal information
Born (1948-12-15) December 15, 1948
New York City, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeNorth Carolina (1967–1970)
NBA draft1970 / Round: 7 / Pick: 106th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career1970–1980
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
Number33, 11
Career history
1970–1972Virginia Squires
1972–1975Phoenix Suns
1975–1977Boston Celtics
1977–1978Los Angeles Lakers
1978–1980Denver Nuggets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points10,037 (17.9 ppg)
Rebounds2,034 (3.6 rpg)
Assists2,696 (4.8 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2015
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
1968 Mexico City Team competition

Early life

Charlie Scott grew up primarily in Harlem, New York.[1] A 6'5" (1.96 m) guard/forward, Scott attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City for one year before transferring to Laurinburg Institute in Laurinburg, North Carolina.[2] He was valedictorian of his high school senior class.[3] He was a legend at Rucker Park.[4]

College career

Scott played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he was the first black scholarship athlete. Scott averaged 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game at UNC, and a career-best 27.1 points per game in his senior season.[1] He was a two-time All-American and a three-time all-ACC selection.[3] Scott led the Tar Heels to their second and third consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances in 1968 and 1969.[3]

He was the first African-American to join a fraternity at the University of North Carolina, St. Anthony Hall, in 1967.[5]

Scott was a gold medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics playing for the 1968 United States men's Olympic basketball team. Scott was the fourth leading scorer on the team (8.0) coached by Henry Iba.[6] .

Professional career

Scott was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1970 but he had already signed a contract with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association. Scott was named ABA Rookie of the Year after averaging 27.1 points per game. During his second season with the Squires, he set the ABA record for highest scoring average in one season (34.6 points per game). However, he became dissatisfied with life in the ABA and joined the NBA's Phoenix Suns in 1972. The Suns acquired Scott in a trade with the Celtics for Paul Silas. At that point, he briefly went by the name Shaheed Abdul-Aleem.[7]

Scott continued his stellar play in the NBA, representing the Suns in three straight NBA All-Star Games (1973, 1974, and 1975), then was traded to the Boston Celtics for Paul Westphal and two draft picks. With the Celtics in the 1975-76 NBA season, Scott won a championship ring against the Suns. Scott later played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. He retired in 1980 with 14,837 combined ABA/NBA career points. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Personal life

While attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Charlie Scott married Margaret Holmes Scott and from that union they had one daughter Holly Scott Emanuel.

Scott and his current wife, Trudy, have three children—sons Shaun and Shannon and daughter Simone—and have lived primarily in Atlanta and Los Angeles.[1] They currently live in Columbus, Ohio, where son Shannon used to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes.[8][9]

After retiring from the NBA, Scott served as a marketing director for the sports apparel company Champion for several years, then as executive vice president of CTS, a telemarketing firm,[10] before owning his own business.[3]

References
  1. Fowler, S.; Durham, W. (2005). North Carolina Tar Heels: Where Have You Gone?. Sports Pub. L.L.C. p. 65. ISBN 9781582619422. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  2. McClellan, Michael D. (May 11, 2005). "PRODIGAL SUN - The Charlie Scott interview". Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  3. "Scott and Smith gave new look to Tobacco Road". sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  4. "Elite 24: Rucker Park legends". ESPN.com. May 17, 2012.
  5. "FRATERNITY PLEDGES NEGRO AT CAROLINA". select.nytimes.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  6. "Games of the XIXth Olympiad -- 1968". www.usab.com.
  7. Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 95. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  8. Scott Henry. "Ohio State Basketball: Is OSU Back on Track After Shannon Scott's Move to Bench? | Bleacher Report". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  9. "In watching his son with the Buckeyes, Charles Scott has much of which to be proud: Bill Livingston | cleveland.com". cleveland.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  10. "The Sports Illustrated Vault - SI.com". si.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
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