Ray Scott

John Raymond Scott (born July 12, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played twelve seasons in professional basketball, ten in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets, and two with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association (ABA). After he retired from playing basketball, he was selected an assistant coach of the Pistons by Earl Lloyd. Seven games into the 1972–73 season, Lloyd was fired, and Scott was chosen to replace him as the head coach. In his first full season in 1973–74, the Pistons won 52 games that saw them reach the postseason for the first time in six years. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year, the first African-American to win the honor and the only one until 1991. The Pistons made the postseason two times in Scott's coaching career before he was fired 42 games into the 1975–76 season. He later coached at Eastern Michigan University from 1976 to 1979 before becoming an insurance executive for three decades.

Early life Scott was born on July 12, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended West Philadelphia High School, where he excelled in basketball. He competed against future NBA Hall of Fame great Wilt Chamberlain, who was a year ahead of Scott at Philadelphia's Overbrook High School, also located in West Philadelphia. Like Chamberlain, he was hired as a teenager by Haskell Cohen to work and play basketball at Kutscher's Hotel, a resort located in the Catskill Mountains. At Kutscher's, Scott was also in close regular contact with Hall of Fame Boston Celtics' basketball coach Red Auerbach. He played basketball at Kutscher's under Auerbach's tutelage.

In Scott's opinion, NBA Hall of Fame center Bill Russell was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics championship teams, and Wilt Chamberlain was the cornerstone of the NBA. Scott later said that Auerbach, Earl Lloyd, Red Holzman and Marty Blake were the four people most responsible for bringing black players into the NBA in significant numbers. West Philadelphia came in second among all Philadelphia high schools that year in the city-wide high school basketball tournament. and was a unanimous All-State selection his senior year.

College career Scott finished high school in January 1957, and was pursued by colleges offering basketball scholarships. The Harlem Globetrotters had approached Scott in high school, but he had no interest in joining them. Friends of Portland head coach Al Negratti had interested Scott in coming to Portland, after his semester at NYCJC. Because he had played that one semester with NYCJC, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) ruled that Scott could not play for Portland's basketball team during his first semester at Portland (1957).

Once allowed to play, in February 1958 Scott scored 28 points in his first game, playing against Seattle University and its future Hall of Fame star player Elgin Baylor, who scored 60 points in that game. Unlike most big front court players, Scott had the agility, dribbling and movement skills of a guard, and a good jump shot from the outside. He had learned to play outside, away for the basket, from playing against Chamberlain. Scott played in 13 games as a freshman, averaging 20.3 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Negratti believed Scott had the ability and attitude to grow into a great player. Scott then left Portland at the beginning of his sophomore year, and signed to play professional basketball with a farm team of the New York Knicks. Professional career Allentown Jets (1958–1961) Scott played for the Allentown Jets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) from 1958 to 1961. In the 1960–1961 season, he averaged 33.5 points and 16.4 rebounds a game. He averaged 23.4 points and 12.1 rebounds a game in the 1959–1960 season. Scott was selected to the All-EPBL First Team in 1961 and Second Team in 1960.

Detroit Pistons (1961–1967) After being scouted by Earl Lloyd, who had been the league's first black player and became a mentor to Scott, His best all-around season with the Pistons came in 1963-64, when he averaged 17.6 points and 3.1 assists in addition to 13.5 rebounds per game. His 17.9 points per game with the Pistons in 1965-66 was his career-high. He played 45 games for the Pistons in 1966-67, averaging 14.7 points and nine rebounds per game before being traded in early 1967.

Baltimore Bullets (1967–1970) In January 1967, Scott was part of a three-team trade involving the Pistons, the Baltimore Bullets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bullets traded center Mel Counts to Los Angeles, Los Angeles traded Rudy LaRusso to the Bullets who then immediately traded LaRusso to the Pistons for Scott. The Bullets had a 20–61 record that season. Scott played in 27 games for the Bullets, averaging 19 points and 13.2 rebounds per game, playing alongside future Hall of Fame forward Gus Johnson. Scott would become close friends with Johnson. The Bullets had a 57–25 record, finishing first in the NBA's Eastern Division. This was the first team Scott had ever played on that had a winning record. He played in all 82 games, but had a reduced role, averaging 11.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game. He was backup to starting forwards Jack Marin and Gus Johnson, but had to step up when Johnson's season was finished in early February 1969 with a knee injury. Scott started all four games in Johnson's place for the Bullets in their four game playoff loss to the New York Knicks, averaging 13.3 points and eight rebounds per game.

In 1969-70, Scott was a reserve forward, averaging 8.9 points and 6.3 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game. The Bullets finished 52–30, but lost to the Knicks four games to three in the first round of the 1970 NBA playoffs. Scott played in all seven playoff games, averaging 4.6 points and three rebounds in nearly 13 minutes per game.

After the 1970 season, the Bullets left Scott exposed in the 1970 expansion draft, and he was selected by the Buffalo Braves.

During his Bullets' career, in one game against the Boston Celtics he grabbed 28 rebounds playing against Bill Russell. He also had a 27-point, 26-rebound game against the St. Louis Hawks, and a 30-point, 20-rebound game the first time playing against the Pistons after they traded him. Scott gave Bullets' teammate and fellow Philadelphian Freddie "Mad Dog" Carter his nickname, after Carter once bit Scott during a one-on-one practice drill.

Virginia Squires (1970–1972) Although Scott was selected by the Buffalo Braves in the 1970 expansion draft, he instead chose to play for the American Basketball Association's Virginia Squires. The Braves brought legal action in United States District Court, seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Scott from joining the Squires, saying Scott was under contract to the Braves, which Scott and the Squires disputed. Judge Richard B. Kellam ruled against the Braves, denying the preliminary injunction request. Scott went on to play the final two years of his professional career with the Squires from 1970 to 1972, where he was a teammate of Julius Erving.

Scott split center duties with Jim Eakins in 1970-71, averaging 14.3 points and eight rebounds in only 21.6 minutes per game. He was 12th in the ABA's Most Valuable Player voting. In the 1971 ABA playoffs, over 12 games in two rounds, he averaged 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in only 22 minutes per game. In his final season, 1971-72, he was back at reserve forward; averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in nearly 15 minutes per game. In two rounds of the 1972 ABA playoffs, he played in 11 games, averaging 12 points and 5.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.

Scott retired in 1972 at age 34. Under his direction, the ballclub went 38–37 for the remainder of the 1972–73 campaign. The next season, Scott received the NBA Coach of the Year Award and become the first black man to win NBA coach of the year after guiding the Pistons to a then-franchise-best 52–30 regular season record in 1973–74. The team slumped to 40–42 in 1974–75. Scott was dismissed and replaced on January 26, 1976, by assistant Herb Brown, when the Pistons record was 17–25.

Eastern Michigan (1976–1979) Scott was appointed men's basketball head coach at Eastern Michigan University just over six weeks later on March 10, 1976. Over three seasons, he guided EMU to a 29–52 record. Eastern Michigan fired Scott in March 1979, with Scott saying at the time the decision to part ways was mutual. Scott later said becoming Eastern Michigan's coach was a mistake, because he lacked knowledge about how to effectively recruit high school players.

Honors Scott received the NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 1973-74 season. In November 2017, Scott was inducted into the Philadelphia Black Basketball Hall of Fame, in its inaugural class. Scott is also a co-founder. He also was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

Personal life After his coaching career, Scott went into private business, spending 30 years as an insurance executive.

Scott married Jennifer Ziehm said that of the 27 books in which he was involved as an author, this was his most important.

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG PPG

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG PPG

Head coaching record

NBA Source