Fred Carter

Fredrick James Carter (born February 14, 1945), nicknamed "Mad Dog" or "Doggy", is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons (1969–77) for the Baltimore Bullets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks. After Carter's playing career ended, he coached the Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team for three seasons to a 60–32 record and three years of AIAW tournament play. He later became an assistant coach in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Washington Bullets and Philadelphia 76ers, and head coach of the 76ers. He was the first black assistant and head coach in 76ers' history.

Carter played four years of varsity basketball at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he was a three-time first-team All-Mason-Dixon Conference selection, and a member of the 1967 Mason-Dixon Conference championship team. After finishing his NBA career as a player and coach, Carter became a basketball analyst for ESPN and NBA TV, where he was sometimes referred to as "the best player on the worst team in NBA history".

Early life Carter was born on February 14, 1945, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of four children. His father was a junk dealer and his mother a domestic worker. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School, where he played on the basketball team. He was All-Public League in Philadelphia in 1963, playing center, averaging 17 points per game. He had decided to drop out and join the Army, but there was no one there to swear him in when he went to the recruitment center. Instead, he went with a girlfriend to visit Cheyney University for her freshman orientation. After visting the campus, he realized he could compete in college and decided to finish high school. It has also been reported that he left high school before graduating and began working, but obtained the credits necessary to obtain a high school degree, and that he finished his high school degree at Temple Prep. of Mount St. Mary's College (the "Mount") (now Mount St. Mary's University) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In one report, Phelan was scouting a Philadelphia high school all-star game in which Carter participated and was named most valuable player. Phelan decided to recruit Carter for the Mount. It is also reported that Phelan was scouting John Baum at the Philadelphia playgrounds when he first saw Carter and began recruiting Carter at that time. Carter later applied and was accepted to Mount St. Mary's in 1965, but had a concern. The school had only integrated in the early 1960s. While driving with Phelan to the rural campus to begin school, Carter asked Phelan how many black students attended the Mount. Phelan told Carter to look in the car's rearview mirror, telling Carter he was going to be the Mount's only black student at that time.

In fact, the school did not pose a serious problem for Carter. Fans at basketball games would chant "In Fred We Trust", and Phelan and his wife Dottie became Carter's surrogate parents on campus. But Carter faced obstacles when going to play teams in the Southern United States. Among other things, during a tournament at Randoph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, he was punched twice while retrieving his warmup clothes at halftime.

In the 1965–66 season, as a freshman, Carter had a 23.7 points per game average on a 21–6 Mount St. Mary's team; the highest scoring average for any college player in Maryland. The Mount was runner up in the Mason-Dixon Conference tournament that season. His 637 points that season set a school freshman scoring record. Carter averaged 20.3 points per game for the Mount in 1966–67, heading into the tournament. Mount St. Mary's lost to the University of Akron in their opening tournament game, with Carter scoring 16 points; and then lost the consolation game to Baldwin-Wallace, with Carter scoring 18 points.

Despite injuries, Carter averaged 21.4 points per game as a junior (1967–68). He was elected a team co-captain his senior year (1968–69). The team's record during Carter's tenure was 81–27. During his college career, Carter scored 1,840 points, averaging 21.9 points and 11 rebounds a game. He was injured during part of his senior year after being poked in the eye, and also reportedly suffering an ankle injury.

Professional career Baltimore Bullets A 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) guard, Carter was selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the third round of the 1969 NBA draft, 43rd overall. Bullet teammate, and fellow Philadelphian, Ray Scott gave Carter the nickname "Mad Dog" after Carter once bit Scott during a one-on-one practice drill. Carter played on Bullets teams that included future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame players Gus Johnson, Earl Monroe, and Wes Unseld, as well as players like Jack Marin, Kevin Loughery, and Scott. Carter's role changed during the 1970 Eastern Division playoff series against the New York Knicks, who would go on to win the NBA championship that season. Bullets' coach Gene Shue started Carter in the series because of injuries to guards Kevin Loughery and Eddie Miles. (Miles played sparingly in the series, but Loughery averaged nearly 22 minutes per game despite having suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung in late February. Carter had the defensive assignment of guarding future Hall of Fame Knicks' guard Walt Frazier, taking pressure off of Monroe in not having to defend Frazier. After losing the first two games, Carter scored 23 points, with six rebounds and three assists in the Bullets' Game 3 win, and "hounded Frazier" on defense.

Knicks' Hall of Fame head coach Red Holzman wrote in his basketball memoir, My Unforgettable Season 1970, that "Carter was the surprise and did a lot of damage with his playing time" in that series. He called Carter the Bullets' "not-so-secret weapon". Holzman described Carter's block of a Dick Barnett layup attempt after chasing Barnett down the court late in Game 1: "I don't know how many yards [Carter] spotted Barnett but he nailed him just in time. An amazing play". The Bullets defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Carter averaged 25 minutes, 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in that series. He played 31 minutes and scored 18 points in the decisive Game 7 win, 128–120. Carter made shots when Monroe was double-teamed by the 76ers and passed to Carter, and played tough defense on Hal Greer who scored only 12 points and fouled out of the game.

The Bullets then played the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, winning in seven games. Carter once again started alongside Monroe. He averaged 40.3 minutes, 16.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and two assists per game against the Knicks. The Knicks won the series' first two games, as in 1970, and the Bullets won Game 3, 114–88; Carter having 20 points and seven rebounds. He had 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in the Bullets' Game 4 win. He had 18 points and seven rebounds in a Game 5 loss, and eight points, six assists and four rebounds in a Game 6 win.

Game 7 was again played in Madison Square Garden, but this season the Bullets won, 93–91. Although it was only a conference series, Carter later said "That was our championship". Carter played 38 minutes, with a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds) to go along with two assists. Carter also played tight defense on Walt Frazier throughout Game 7, limiting Frazier to 13 points and four assists. With 68 seconds remaining and the Bullets up by two points, Carter hit a 20-foot jump shot that secured victory for the Bullets. The Bullets were so desperate to defeat New York, who had knocked them out of the playoffs the last two years, that during a timeout with one minute left in the game coach Gene Shue looked heavenward and prayed, "'Please, let us win this one'". He kept a tape recording of Bullets' sportscaster Jim Karvellas's calling Carter's shot during the game, and would listen to it over the years. Oscar Robertson, and Bobby Dandridge reached the NBA finals after defeating the San Francisco Warriors in five games and then the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. The Bullets' future Hall of Fame forward Gus Johnson, the team's leading rebounder and third leading scorer during the season (17.1 rebounds and 18.2 points per game), Johnson played only 57 minutes in two games against the Bucks, missing the series' first game altogether because of his injured knees.

Carter played in all four games, averaging 35.8 minutes, 15.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and three assists per game. Early in the series Carter made a boastful comment to the Bucks' Oscar Robertson after blocking Robertson's shot, and in Game 4 Robertson played with extra intensity and focus against Carter for Carter's transgression, scoring 30 points in the Bucks' 118–106 victory. Carter was upset at the time, but had some comfort from being traded with Loughery who was a good friend, even though the two had competed for the same shooting guard position with the Bullets. The 76ers finished the season with a 30–52 record. However, he played for a 76ers team that has the worst 82-game season win–loss record in NBA history, 9–73 (.110). Carter is sometimes remembered as the best player on the NBA's worst team ever; though some have called the 7–59 (.106) 2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats the worst team in NBA history.

Carter has described the experience of playing on a nine-win team as a building block in life; teaching him how to get through hard times, and to stay motivated by the principles of respecting oneself and respecting the game.

Carter played a little over three more seasons with the 76ers. In the three seasons from 1973 to 1976, he averaged 21.4, 21.9, and 18.9 points per game; 4.8, 4.4 and 3.6 rebounds per game; and 5.7, 4.4. and 4.5 assists per game. He was 16th in the NBA in scoring in 1973–74, and 10th in the NBA the following season.

Carter's former Bullets' coach Gene Shue took over as the 76ers head coach before the 1973–74 season, leading the 76ers as head coach through the 1976–77 season. Carter became the 76ers starting point guard beginning with the 1974–75 season. By the 1975–76 season he played on a 76ers team that also included future Hall of Fame players shooting guard Doug Collins and forward George McGinnis; and the 76ers had their first winning season (46–36) since 1971. Carter was now the team's third leading scorer, behind McGinnis and Collins. He had 30 points in Game 1, and 32 points in Game 3.

Carter began the 1976–77 season with the 76ers, but his playing time was limited. The Sixers had acquired Henry Bibby in September 1976, and Bibby became the starting point guard, ahead of Carter. In late October, the 76ers acquired future Hall of Fame forward Julius Erving, giving the 76ers a starting that lineup included Erving, McGinnis, and Collins who were the team's three leading scorers that season. At the time of the trade, Carter had played in only 14 games without any starts, averaging 16.9 minutes and 6.9 points per game. His missed some games for the Bucks in the second half of December after suffering a sprained ankle. This became Carter's final season.

Over the course of his NBA playing career Carter scored 9,271 points, averaging 15.2 points a game, with a 42.5 field goal percentage. He averaged 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game over his career. Gene Shue was considering Carter for an assistant coaching job after Carter's playing career ended, but Carter told Shue he had already committed to coaching at Mount St. Mary's. He was an assistant coach for the Hawks from 1981 to 1983, under head coach Kevin Loughery. Carter was next an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls (1984–1985), again under Loughery. This was Michael Jordan's rookie season. After seeing Jordan during the 1984 preseason, Carter compared Jordan to Secretariat in standing above all the other players. Loughery, Carter, and fellow assistant coach Bill Blair were fired at the end of the season, in late May 1985.

Carter was hired as an assistant coach in late June 1985 by Washington Bullets' general manager Bob Ferry. Ferry was the Baltimore Bullets' chief scout in 1969 when the team drafted Carter, and was the Bullets principal advocate for drafting Carter because of his potential to stand out in the NBA as a player. The Bullets' head coach in 1985 was Gene Shue, who was Carter's first head coach as an NBA player in Baltimore. In March 1986, Bullets' owner Abe Pollin fired Shue, and named Loughery as the Bullets' head coach. Carter remained with the Bullets as Loughery's assistant coach through the 1986–87 season.

The 76ers hired Carter as an assistant coach in June 1987, making him the first African American coach in team history. Carter had been offered an assistant coaching position by Gene Shue with the Los Angeles Clippers, but he wanted to come home to Philadelphia. He served in the role of defensive coach under Lynam. Carter continued as an assistant coach for the 76ers in the 1992–93 season under new head coach Doug Moe, with Lynam now the team's general manager. Moe was fired after going 19–37, with the team appearing uncompetitive in some of their losses. Carter was appointed head coach in March 1993. As the 76ers head coach, Carter refocused the 76ers on practicing basketball fundamentals. Carter finished the season with a record of 7–19.

Carter coached the full 1993–94 76ers season, finishing with a 25–57 record. Lynam left the 76ers to coach in Washington at the end of the 1993–94 season, and team owner Katz replaced both Lynam as general manager and Carter as coach with John Lucas (who went 24–58 and 18–64 in his two seasons with the 76ers).

Basketball analyst Carter spent one season as cable television analyst for the 76ers in the 1980s. Following his coaching tenure with the Sixers, Carter began a successful career as a basketball analyst. He spent eight years at ESPN and five years at NBA TV, before his retirement.

Legacy and honors Carter was inducted into the Mount St. Mary's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1979. On December 1, 2007, Carter had his jersey No. 33 retired at halftime of the Mount St. Mary's v. Loyola College of Baltimore men's basketball game. The game was played on the Coach Jim Phelan Court in Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Carter was the first Mountaineer basketball player to have his number retired.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record