Background
Charlie Scott grew up primarily in Harlem, New New York
Charlie Scott grew up primarily in Harlem, New New York
A 6"5" (196 m) guard/forward, Scott attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City for one year before transferring to Laurinburg Institute in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
He played two seasons in the now-defunct American Basketball Association (American Bar Association) and eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (National Basketball Association). He was valedictorian of his high school senior class. Scott played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he was the first black scholarship athlete.
Scott averaged 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game at University of North Carolina, and a career-best 27.1 points per game in his senior season.
He was a two-time All-American and a three-time all-Administrative Committee on Company-ordination selection. Scott led the Tar Heels to their second and third consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four appearances in 1968 and 1969.
He was the first "African American" to join a fraternity at the University of North Carolina, Saint Anthony Hall, in 1967. Scott was a gold medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Scott was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1970 but he had already signed a contract with the Virginia Squires of the American Bar Association. During his second season with the Squires, he set the American Bar Association record for highest scoring average in one season (346 points per game).
However, he became dissatisfied with life in the American Bar Association and joined the National Basketball Association"s Phoenix Suns in 1972. At that point, he briefly went by the name Shaheed Abdul-Aleem. Scott later played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
He retired in 1980 with 14,837 combined American Bar Association/National Basketball Association career points.
Scott was named American Bar Association Rookie of the Year after averaging 27.1 points per game. Scott continued his stellar play in the National Basketball Association, representing the Suns in three straight National Basketball Association All-Star Games (1973, 1974, and 1975), then went to the Celtics for the 1975-1976 National Basketball Association season where he won a championship ring against the Suns. After retiring from the National Basketball Association, Scott served as a marketing director for the sports apparel company Champion for several years, then as executive vice president of Clear To Send, a telemarketing firm, before owning his own business.
