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Charlie Scott (basketball)

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Charlie Scott
Personal information
Born (1948-12-15) December 15, 1948 (age 75)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeNorth Carolina (1967–1970)
NBA draft1970: 7th round, 106th overall pick
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 ABA / NBA statistics
Points14,837 (20.7 ppg)
Rebounds2,846 (4.0 rpg)
Assists3,515 (4.9 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City Team competition

Charles Thomas Scott, also known as Shaheed Abdul-Aleem, (born December 15, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player.[1] He played two seasons in the 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 Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. Scott is the leader in most points per game with 24.8 in Suns franchise history.

Early life

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Scott was born in New York City and grew up primarily in Harlem, New York.[2][1] There, his father was a cab driver.[2]

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.[3] Scott transferred to Laurinburg which was famous at the time for preparing basketball players for college.[3] Scott said, "It had a well-known basketball program. I knew my family wouldn't be able to afford college, so a scholarship was going to be my ticket."[3] Scott was valedictorian of his high school senior class.[4][3] He was also a legend at Rucker Park.[5]

While in high school, Scott spent one summer at a basketball program at Davidson College with coach Lefty Driesell.[3] Driesell recruited Scott who was accepted for early admission at Davidson.[3] However, Scott also explored Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest University at the suggestion of his coach at Laurinburg.[3] He ultimately accepted the offer to play at UNC because he felt that, as a larger public university, it would be more open to a black player "breaking the color barrier".[3]

College career

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Scott played college basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) where he was the first black scholarship athlete.[4] 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.[2] He was a two-time All-American and a three-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection.[4] Scott led UNC to their second and third consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances in 1968 and 1969.[4]

Woody Durham, a long-time radio announcer for UNC basketball said, "He really was something. He was the first Carolina player that really would compare to today's player. His build, his speed, his ability—you could take him out of the late 1960s and drop him into today's game, and he wouldn't miss a beat."[2]

In addition to breaking the color barrier in UNC basketball, he was also the first African-American to pledge a fraternity at UNC, accepting an offer to join St. Anthony Hall, in 1967.[6][7] However, after three weeks after pledging, withdrew from the fraternity because of his demanding basketball schedule.[8][9]

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.[10]

Professional career

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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 (ABA). 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 the 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 traded Paul Silas to the Celtics after the season in order to keep him. At that point, he briefly went by the name Shaheed Abdul-Aleem.[11]

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.[12]

ABA and NBA statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 ‡  NBA record
Bold Denotes career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1970–71 Virginia (ABA) 84 – 37.9 .463 .246 .746 5.2 5.6 – – 27.1
1971–72 Virginia (ABA) 73 – 41.9 .449 .264 .803 5.1 4.8 – – 34.6‡
1971–72 Phoenix 6 – 29.5 .425 – .810 3.8 4.3 – – 18.8
1972–73 Phoenix 81 – 37.8 .446 – .784 4.2 6.1 – – 25.3
1973–74 Phoenix 52 – 38.5 .459 – .781 4.3 5.2 1.9 0.4 25.4
1974–75 Phoenix 69 – 37.6 .441 – .781 4.0 4.5 1.6 0.3 24.3
1975–76† Boston 82 – 35.5 .449 – .797 4.4 4.2 1.3 0.3 17.6
1976–77 Boston 43 – 36.8 .444 – .746 4.4 4.6 1.4 0.3 18.2
1977–78 Boston 31 – 34.8 .433 – .712 3.3 4.6 1.6 0.2 16.3
1977–78 L.A. Lakers 48 – 29.0 .442 – .775 3.1 4.9 1.2 0.2 11.7
1978–79 Denver 79 – 29.0 .442 – .775 3.1 4.9 1.2 0.4 12.0
1979–80 Denver 69 – 33.1 .460 .182 .749 2.7 5.4 1.2 0.3 9.3
ABA Career 157 – 39.8 .456 .257 .775 5.2 5.2 30.6‡
NBA Career 560 – 34.4 .444 .772 3.6 4.8 1.3 0.3 17.9
Total Career 717 – 35.6 .448 .773 4.0 4.9 1.3 0.3 20.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1971 Virginia (ABA) 12 – 42.0 .409 .258 .755 6.6 6.8 – – 26.8
1976† Boston 18 – 35.1 .391 – .764 4.2 3.9 1.2 0.4 15.4
1977 Boston 9 – 37.6 .406 – .846 4.2 4.2 1.4 0.2 16.4
1978 L.A. Lakers 3 – 34.3 .300 – .750 4.3 4.7 1.3 0.0 10.0
1979 Denver 3 – 34.7 .476 – .571 4.7 3.3 0.7 0.7 16.0
Career 45 – 37.4 .400 .258 .766 4.9 4.8 1.2 0.4 18.3

Personal life

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Scott was childhood friends with actor Demond Wilson of Sanford & Son fame.[13]

While attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Scott married Margaret Holmes. They had a daughter, Holly Scott Emanuel.

Scott and his current wife, Trudy, have three children—sons Shaun Scott and Shannon Dean Scott and daughter Simone Scott—and have lived primarily in Atlanta and Los Angeles.[2][14] They currently live in Columbus, Ohio, where son Shannon used to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes.[15][14]

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, before owning his own business.[4][2][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Charlie Scott Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h McClellan, Michael D. (May 11, 2005). "Prodigal Sun - The Charlie Scott interview". Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lapchick, Richard (February 28, 2008). "Scott and Smith gave new look to Tobacco Road". ESPN. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  5. ^ "Elite 24: Rucker Park legends". ESPN. May 17, 2012.
  6. ^ "Fraternity Pledges Negro at Carolina". The New York Times. February 26, 1967. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  7. ^ "Scott Pledges in St. Anthony". The Daily Tarheel. February 19, 1967. p. 1. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "To the Editor". The Daily Tarheel. February 15, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "SI writers past and present share personal memories of Dean Smith". Sports Illustrated. February 9, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  10. ^ "Games of the XIXth Olympiad -- 1968". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015.
  11. ^ "Ebony". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company: 95. July 1975. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  12. ^ "Charlie Scott: Paving the Way for Future Generations". Phoenix Suns. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Demond Wilson Interview". YouTube.
  14. ^ a b Livingston, Bill (January 16, 2012). "In watching his son with the Buckeyes, Charles Scott has much of which to be proud: Bill Livingston". cleveland.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  15. ^ Henry, Scott (February 5, 2014). "Ohio State Basketball: Is OSU Back on Track After Shannon Scott's Move to Bench?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  16. ^ "The Sports Illustrated Vault". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
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