John Raymond Scott (born July 12, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He was the first African American NBA coach to win the coach of the year award.
Early life
John Raymond Scott was born on July 12, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended West Philadelphia High School, where he excelled in basketball. He competed against 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, where he was also in close regular contact with hall of fame basketball coach Red Auerbach.[1] In 1955, Overbrook and West Philadelphia High played in the Philadelphia public school championship game at the Palestra before 8,500 people, with Overbrook and Chamberlain winning against Scott's Speedboys 78–60. Scott and West Philadelphia won the championship the following year against Northeast High by the same score, with Scott scoring 22 points in the game, after averaging 31.7 points for the year.[2]
In Scott's opinion, Bill Russell was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics and Wilt Chamberlain was the cornerstone of the NBA.[3]
Scott played for the Allentown Jets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League from 1958 to 1961. In the 1960–1961 season, he averaged 33.5 points and 16.4 rebounds a game.[5] He averaged 23.4 points and 12.1 rebounds a game in the 1959–1960 season.[6]
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,[4] Scott was selected with the fourth pick of the 1961 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons,[1] where he played from 1961 to 1967 and was a deadly shooter near the perimeter of the court. He averaged 16.0 points and 10.7 rebounds a game during his Pistons career.[4]
Baltimore Bullets (1967–1970)
Scott played for the Baltimore Bullets from 1967 to 1970. In one game for the Bullets against the Boston Celtics, he grabbed 28 rebounds playing against Bill Russell. He had a 27-point, 26 rebound, game against the St. Louis Hawks, and a 30-point, 20 rebound, game in his first game playing against the Pistons.[7] As a Bullet, he was close friends with Naismith hall of famerGus Johnson; gave Freddie "Mad Dog" Carter his nickname; and said of the great guard and fellow Philadelphian Earl Monroe that no one, human or divine, could go one-on-one with Monroe.[7]
Earl Lloyd became the Pistons head coach in 1971, and he selected Scott as an assistant coach. To Scott's surprise, he was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Pistons on October 28, 1972, succeeding Earl Lloyd who was fired after a 2–5 start.[4][8] Under his direction, the ballclub went 38–37 for the remainder of the 1972–73 campaign. He 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.[7] The team slumped to 40–42 in 1974–75. He was dismissed and replaced by assistant Herb Brown with the Pistons at 17–25 on January 26, 1976.[9]
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.[10] Over three seasons, he guided EMU to a 29–52 record. Eastern Michigan fired Scott in March 1979.
Personal life
After his coaching career, Scott went into private business, spending 30 years as an insurance executive.[7] He also has held the position of ambassador for children and families for the Wellspring Lutheran service agency in Michigan.[11] In February 2008, Scott was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.[11] In April 2008, during a celebration of the Pistons' 50th anniversary, he was named one of the "30 All-Time Pistons".[12][13] In November 2017, Scott was inducted into the Philadelphia Black Basketball Hall of Fame, in its inaugural class.[14] Scott is also a co-founder.[15] He also was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Ray married Jennifer Ziehm June 27, 1981. They met during his coaching of the men's basketball team at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.
Together they share three daughters; Allison, Devon, and Nia. Ray also has a fourth daughter named Maria.
Ray coached two of his daughters in grade school basketball for the Ann Arbor St. Paul Lutheran School Lady Crusaders. Coaching there for almost a decade, he claims that was his most satisfying experience in basketball. "Coaching my girls was one of the most fulfilling feelings [I] could ever have in life. Just coaching my girls."
He still resides, happily married to Jennifer, on Michigan's East Side.
On June 14, 2022, Scott published and released his first book, a memoir. It is an autobiographical piece that reflects on racism and segregation he faced in the 1960s and 70s in regards to his career in the NBA. The book title is The NBA in Black and White: The Memoir of a Trailblazing NBA Player and Coach.
