Fred Scolari

Fred Joseph Scolari (March 1, 1922 – October 17, 2002) was an American professional basketball player. At 5'10", he played the point guard position.

Biography Though he was blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and often overweight, "Fat Freddie" excelled in basketball at Galileo High School and the University of San Francisco. In 1946, he joined the Washington Capitols of the Basketball Association of America (now the NBA) at the start of a nine-year (1946–1955) professional career with the Capitols, Syracuse Nationals, Baltimore Bullets, Fort Wayne Pistons and Boston Celtics. He was one of the last two NBA players who played in its predecessor BAA from its inception in 1946 to retire.

Scolari became known for his unorthodox, yet effective, shooting style, in which he released the ball from his hip. He led the BAA in free-throw percentage for the 1946–47 BAA season. He was also a well-regarded defender, and was voted to the All-BAA Second Team in 1947 and 1948.

After his basketball career ended, he became a successful insurance salesman. He later served as director of the Salesian Boys and Girls Club in San Francisco. In 1998, he was elected to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 2002.

BAA/NBA career statistics Legend GP Games played MPG Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1946–47 Washington 58 – .294 .811 – 1.0 12.6 1947–48 Washington 47 – .294 .732 – 1.2 12.5 1948–49 Washington 48 – .310 .798 – 2.1 11.2 1949–50 Washington 66 – .343 .822 – 2.7 13.0 1950–51 Washington / Syracuse 66 – .327 .843 3.3 3.9 13.4 1951–52 Baltimore 64 35.0 .334 .835 3.3 4.7 14.6 1952–53 Baltimore 46 35.2 .334 .849 3.5 4.3 14.2 1952–53 Fort Wayne 16 31.6 .377 .824 2.9 2.3 11.1 1953–54 Fort Wayne 64 24.8 .324 .800 2.2 2.0 7.2 1954–55 Boston 59 10.5 .305 .796 1.3 1.6 3.2Career 534 26.4 .321 .818 2.7 2.6 11.3

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1947 Washington 6 – .232 .794 – .8 11.8 1949 Washington 9 – .270 .700 – 1.8 9.1 1950 Washington 2 – .481 1.000 – 1.5 18.5 1951 Syracuse 7 – .355 .815 5.9 2.3 12.6 1953 Fort Wayne 8 33.5 .322 .803 3.1 2.6 13.4 1954 Fort Wayne 4 15.0 .250 .000 1.8 1.5 3.0 1955 Boston 5 5.8 .267 .800 1.0 .6 2.4Career 41 21.0 .302 .792 3.3 1.7 10.0

Head coaching record