American basketball player (born 1948)
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Regular season
[
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]
Playoffs
[
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]
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
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Charlie Scott Stats"
.
Basketball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
November 8,
2020
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
McClellan, Michael D. (May 11, 2005).
"Prodigal Sun - The Charlie Scott interview"
. Retrieved
November 2,
2007
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Lapchick, Richard (February 28, 2008).
"Scott and Smith gave new look to Tobacco Road"
.
ESPN
. Retrieved
April 12,
2015
.
- ^
"Elite 24: Rucker Park legends"
.
ESPN
. May 17, 2012.
- ^
"Fraternity Pledges Negro at Carolina"
.
The New York Times
. February 26, 1967
. Retrieved
April 12,
2015
.
- ^
"Scott Pledges in St. Anthony"
.
The Daily Tarheel
. February 19, 1967. p. 1
. Retrieved
August 4,
2022
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"To the Editor"
.
The Daily Tarheel
. February 15, 1968. p. 2
. Retrieved
August 4,
2022
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"SI writers past and present share personal memories of Dean Smith"
.
Sports Illustrated
. February 9, 2015
. Retrieved
August 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Games of the XIXth Olympiad -- 1968"
.
www.usab.com
. Archived from
the original
on April 29, 2015.
- ^
"Ebony"
.
Ebony
. Johnson Publishing Company: 95. July 1975.
ISSN
0012-9011
. Retrieved
April 12,
2015
.
- ^
"Charlie Scott: Paving the Way for Future Generations"
.
Phoenix Suns
. Retrieved
November 8,
2020
.
- ^
"Demond Wilson Interview"
.
YouTube
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"The Sports Illustrated Vault"
.
Sports Illustrated
. Retrieved
April 12,
2015
.
External links
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Special voting by the panelists selected Julius Erving as the ABA's all-time most valuable player and Bobby Leonard as the ABA's all-time best head coach
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