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By:\u00a0 Michael D. McClellan<\/strong> | His professional career was supposed to start here, in Boston, joining Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens as part of Red Auerbach\u2019s post-Russell rebuilding plan. Forget that the ABA\u2019s Virginia Squires also had designs on Charlie Scott\u2019s services, and that it was a foregone conclusion that Scott would follow the money and play in the spunky new league with the red, white and blue basketball. Also forget that, had there been no ABA, Scott would hardly have lasted into the seventh round of the 1970 NBA Draft, where Auerbach rolled the dice to secure his rights. Scott was a big-time player from a big-time program, a two-time All-American who had earned a spot on the 1968 Olympic Team, torched arch rival Duke for 40 points in an ACC tournament game, and propelled the venerable Dean Smith to his first Final Four. Auerbach gambled that Scott would eventually yield dividends for the Boston Celtics, if not from the outset then certainly down the road, trusting that the 6\u2019-6\u201d swingman\u2019s would ultimately play in The Association.\u00a0 Enter the Phoenix Suns.\u00a0 Looking to make a run at the NBA Finals, the Suns coveted Scott\u2019s versatility and scoring punch, and knew that the ABA\u2019s scoring leader would be a perfect fit in its backcourt.\u00a0 The Celtics owned Scott\u2019s draft rights, and Auerbach shrewdly pried Paul Silas away from the Suns. Boston posted a 68-14 season with Silas in the fold, and a year later the Celtics were once again champions of the NBA.<\/p>\n Had the story ended there, Auerbach\u2019s seventh round gamble would have gone down as an unmitigated success.\u00a0 Scott, however, was still on Red\u2019s radar. He had played well in a Phoenix uniform, churning out three All-Star seasons with the team, but the Suns struggled establish an identity with the talented swingman in the backcourt.\u00a0 By the summer of 1975, GM Jerry Colangelo made it known that all trade scenarios would be entertained.\u00a0 Boston, meanwhile, had problems of its own. The team viewed Rick Barry and Golden State as its primary threat, and Auerbach sensed that additional upgrades were needed to ensure another title run.\u00a0\u00a0The emergence of Paul Westphal was certain to draw attention in the free agent market at season\u2019s end, with the Celtics getting nothing in return. Auerbach response:\u00a0 Orchestrating a deal sending Westphal to Phoenix in exchange for Scott.<\/p>\n “It was a win-win deal for both teams,” says Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn, who coached both guards.\u00a0 “Scott immediately helped us win the 1976 NBA Championship, and Westphal blossomed into an All-Star with the Suns.”<\/p>\n ~ ~ ~<\/p>\n Born on December 15th, 1948 in Harlem, Scott began playing organized basketball at the age of twelve. He attended New York’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School through ninth grade, when his family moved to tiny Laurinburg, North Carolina, a place Scott describes as “an itty-bitty town in the middle of nowhere.”\u00a0 Laurinburg Academy boasted a rich basketball tradition \u2013 Celtic great Sam Jones played there, as did sweet-shooting guard Jimmy Walker \u2013 and Scott quickly carved out a legacy of his own, his scoring average trumped only by his work in the classroom.\u00a0 Lefty Driesell, then the head coach at Davidson College, hit it off with the slender swingman and appeared to have a lock for Scott\u2019s national letter-of-intent.\u00a0 An eleventh hour pitch by Dean Smith led to an agonizing decision.<\/p>\n “My mind was made up,” Scott says.\u00a0 “Davidson was the place for me. But my high school coach talked me into looking at all of my options. He used to take me to watch the Tar Heels play. Deep in his heart, I think he wanted me to go to the University of North Carolina, so he was very persistent in making sure that I kept an open mind. I visited the campus and knew that I wanted to go to UNC, but it was hard to break my verbal commitment with Lefty. He was the first college coach who really recognized my talent.”<\/p>\n Scott became the first African-American scholarship athlete in the school’s history, paving the way for future basketball greats Phil Ford and Michael Jordan. In addition to becoming a two-time All-American, Scott led the Tar Heels to back-to-back ACC championships and Final Four berths in 1968 and 1969. Ironically, Scott and Driesell would cross paths once more, this during 1969 East Regional final. With a trip to the Final Four at stake, Scott connected on 10 of 14 field- goal attempts in the second half, including a 20-footer with three seconds left to eliminate Davidson from the tournament.<\/p>\n Following graduation, Scott was selected by both the Virginia Squires and the Boston Celtics. He signed with the upstart Squires,\u00a0averaging 27.1 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.2 rebounds on his way to being named the 1971 ABA Rookie of the Year.\u00a0 A year later he teamed with a young Julius Erving, leading the league in scoring with a 33.4 PPG average. He was named as an ABA All-Star both seasons, but his dissatisfaction with the league led him to sign with Phoenix.\u00a0\u00a0He finished his first season as a Sun by posting averages of 25.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.2 rebounds, numbers that validated his talent and proved he could excel against the world’s best.<\/p>\n “I was a confident player with a short memory,” he says, smiling.\u00a0 “I always thought my next shot was going in.”<\/p>\n Despite the addition of Scott, the Suns\u00a0struggled to a 38-44 record and missed the playoffs.\u00a0 Things were worse a year later,\u00a0as the team went 30-52 in John MacLeod\u2019s first season as head coach. Scott averaged 25.4 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds, but he could have cared less.<\/p>\n “I wanted to win.\u00a0 I’d won a gold medal in the Olympics.\u00a0 I’d been to two Final Fours.\u00a0 I wasn’t concerned about putting up big individual numbers.\u00a0 I wanted a chance to compete for a championship.”<\/p>\n Scott\u2019s third and final season as a Sun provided more of the same \u2013 impressive personal numbers (24.3 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds) but little in the way of team success. And then, on May 23, 1975, Boston traded Westphal and two draft picks to Phoenix for the rights to Scott. The Celtics went 54-28, with Scott the third leading scorer on one of the most balanced teams in franchise history.<\/p>\n “Dave Cowens averaged\u00a019 points that season.\u00a0 Jo Jo White averaged 18.9.\u00a0 I averaged 17.6.\u00a0 John Havlicek averaged 17.\u00a0 Paul Silas averaged 10.7.\u00a0 There aren’t many teams that can boast that kind of balance.”<\/p>\n The Celtics beat a stubborn Buffalo Braves team, 4-2, in Scott\u2019s first-ever playoff appearance. A six game dispatching of the Cleveland Cavaliers put the Celtics back on the championship stage, pitting them against the most unlikely of opponents \u2013 the Phoenix Suns.<\/p>\n “It’s funny how that worked out,” Scott said, well aware of the irony involving the \u201976 Finals matchup, “but we were very confident about our chances of winning the series.”<\/p>\n The series, of course, remains best known for Game 5 in the Boston Garden, the NBA\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201cGreatest Game Ever Played.\u201d The Celtics prevailed in that pivotal triple-overtime gem to take a 3-2 series lead. Lost in the excitement was the series clincher back in Phoenix, one in which Scott played his best with the most on the line. His 25-point, 11-rebound, 5-steal, three assist performance propelled Boston to its 13th NBA Championship.<\/p>\n The 1976 NBA Finals would be the pinnacle of Scott’s professional basketball career. He would go on to play four more seasons, including a brief stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, before retiring as a Denver Nugget. Still, he considers Boston his NBA home. He feels that it was his destiny to win a championship there, even if road was far more arduous that he ever thought possible.<\/p>\n \u201cI think my time spent with the Suns really helped me to appreciate what it was like to win a championship,\u201d Scott said without hesitation. \u201cI was more mature by the time I arrived in Boston, and I had just endured three frustrating seasons in Phoenix. I was ready to come home and help the Celtics win a championship. And that\u2019s exactly what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Take me back to your childhood.\u00a0 What stands out?<\/strong><\/p>\n I grew up in Harlem, and I didn\u2019t have much hope of going to college.\u00a0 I started playing basketball when I was twelve years old, when I took an interest in it.\u00a0 I played bitty-ball and AAU ball.\u00a0 I enjoyed playing, and I got better at it.\u00a0 At the age of fourteen I went away to Stuyvesant High School in New York City, and they didn\u2019t allow me to play on the basketball team.\u00a0 Academically, it was a high standards school, and they were very strict about who could play and who couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 It actually turned out to be a positive for me, because I learned how to study and how to prepare myself for tests, and without basketball I spent a lot of time doing both.\u00a0\u00a0I transferred to Laurinburg High School, which is in North Carolina, following my tenth grade year.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I started playing high school basketball.\u00a0 It was there that I was able to get a scholarship to go to the University of North Carolina.\u00a0 So that\u2019s basically a thumbnail sketch of how I got from Harlem to North Carolina.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laurinburg has a rich basketball tradition.\u00a0 Chris Washburn, Charlie Scott, Sam Jones, Jimmy Walker.<\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, I ended up at Laurinburg because of Jimmy Walker.\u00a0 I had some friends who were a few years older than myself, and they had played basketball with Jimmy \u2013 a guy named Dexter Westbrook, who went on to Providence college with Jimmy, and James Barlow, who went to Kentucky State, where he was killed in a car accident.\u00a0 These were guys that were older than me, and had played at Laurinburg.\u00a0 Dexter and James were the ones that had really told me about Laurinburg High School.\u00a0 They also told several of their other friends.\u00a0 That\u2019s how a group of us ended up in Laurinburg, North Carolina.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie played the trumpet at Laurinburg before dropping out in 1935.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s interesting that you mention Dizzy Gillespie.\u00a0 He\u2019s one of those who had attended Laurinburg, but very few people know where he went to high school.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019re from that area, or maybe a jazz buff, that piece of history is lost when his name comes up.\u00a0 He was a great musician.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lefty Driesell recruited you hard, but you changed your mind and played for the Tar Heels.<\/strong><\/p>\n Lefty was the first person who really gave me notoriety as an athlete at that point in my life.\u00a0 I had gone to Lefty\u2019s basketball camp as a junior in high school, and at that time he offered me a scholarship.\u00a0 He was the one who really told the world about me.\u00a0 Before then I was playing basketball at Laurinburg, and I really hadn\u2019t heard that much from colleges.\u00a0 But once I went to Lefty\u2019s camp, it was really the beginning of a tremendous recruiting circumstance.\u00a0 After Lefty starting recruiting me, I was recruited by all of the other North Carolina schools \u2013 Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina State, and the University of North Carolina.\u00a0 My high school coach, who probably had a lot more insight than I did at that time, made me keep my mind open and visit other schools.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Was it hard changing your mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n Incredibly hard.\u00a0 I had made an early decision to go to Davidson, and I was really planning on going to school there.\u00a0 But I wanted to go to the University of North Carolina, and I had to do what was right for me.\u00a0\u00a0I have to thank Lefty for starting my career.\u00a0 He was the first person to really take notice of me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You were the first black scholarship athlete at the University of North Carolina.\u00a0 How did Dean Smith and others sell you on playing for the Tar Heels?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was the first time that people expressed to me the enjoyment of the university experience, rather than the enjoyment of just the basketball team.\u00a0 In other words, most schools sold me on their basketball programs, whereas North Carolina really sold me on North Carolina.\u00a0 The basketball team was a big part of it, but the big selling point was that I would have to go to school there.\u00a0 I was going to be there for four years, and I was going to spend more time away from the basketball court than I was going to spend on it.\u00a0 So I think that that was the thing that Coach Smith and everyone else really sold me on.\u00a0 They were all concerned with my college education, and it impressed me a great deal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You were interested in pre-med.\u00a0 Any truth to the rumor that the school let you perform an appendectomy to get you to sign?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, they didn\u2019t actually let me perform and appendectomy [laughs].\u00a0 But they did let me in the operating room while an appendectomy was being performed.\u00a0 They let me look in it as it was being done, so that was true.\u00a0 And they took me in and let me watch the students working with the cadavers \u2013 I watched them open up the chest cavity and remove the various organs.\u00a0 Honestly, I found it fascinating at that point, but after I got to college I realized my fear of needles was going to hold me back in the medical field [laughs].<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do you consider your biggest thrill while playing for the Tar Heels?<\/strong><\/p>\n Winning is a big part of playing basketball, and I could think of a lot of games where we were able to walk away victorious.\u00a0 Some of them, like the time I scored 40 points in that championship game against Duke \u2013 what more could you ask for if you\u2019re a Tar Heel \u2013 are much bigger than others.\u00a0 Also hitting that game-winning shot against Davidson was big, with an even bigger twist of irony.\u00a0 But the biggest thrill that I really had, and I think that anybody who has ever played for the Tar Heels would agree, is the camaraderie that comes from being there and being a part of the team.\u00a0 The relationships that get built because of being a Tar Heel is unlike anything that I\u2019ve ever experienced.\u00a0 It\u2019s a big thrill to be a part of the tradition that is North Carolina.\u00a0 It means a whole lot.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s more important than any one game that we may have played, or any one truly great moment that can be pointed to historically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You were a two-time All-American.\u00a0 What was it like to be recognized as one of top players in college basketball?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s an honor that you can\u2019t foresee.\u00a0 All you can do is go out there and to play.\u00a0 My thing was that I always tried to do the best that I could do, and that I tried to let everything flow and then fall into place.\u00a0 I played to gain the respect of the other players on the court, and I feel proud knowing that I can look back, knowing that I played as hard as I possibly could.\u00a0 I may not have always played as well as I could have, but I always played hard and I did the best that I could at that moment.\u00a0 To be recognized as one of the nation\u2019s top players for that is a real thrill.\u00a0 You can\u2019t want anything more.\u00a0 The most important thing is that those North Carolina teams were winning teams.\u00a0 That really made it worthwhile.\u00a0 It meant that my play was doing something productive, and that it was moving the team forward in terms of winning.\u00a0 It was proof that I wasn\u2019t playing selfishly.\u00a0 I was a part of a winning formula, and part of what started that winning tradition at North Carolina.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You were also a member of the 1968 men’s Olympic basketball team.<\/strong><\/p>\n That 1968 Olympic team was really the last team to win the gold medal in consecutive order.\u00a0 The \u201972 team lost to Russia.\u00a0 So in hindsight that team becomes even more special.\u00a0 I was eighteen at the time, so it was great to be a part of the Olympic team as an eighteen year-old player.\u00a0 It\u2019s a thrill and an honor that becomes bigger through the years, especially because the television coverage has turned it into such a huge spectacle.\u00a0 Those things that we earned then have become magnified in terms of significance in today\u2019s society.\u00a0 It\u2019s a thrill to be an Olympic gold medal winner.\u00a0 It\u2019s a thrill to be an NBA champion as a member of the Boston Celtics.\u00a0 It\u2019s a thrill to be a part of the Tar Heel tradition.\u00a0 I think I had the best of all worlds when it comes to basketball.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I can be a person who can moan and groan about my basketball career and who I played for, and the traditions of the teams for whom I played.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t complain about who I played with, and what we accomplished.\u00a0 I think it was a blessing.\u00a0 I have nothing but great respect and honor for my college, Olympic and professional affiliations.\u00a0 I was lucky in the way that my basketball career evolved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You were drafted by Virginia Squires of the ABA and the Boston Celtics of the NBA.\u00a0 What factors led you to sign with the fledgling ABA?<\/strong><\/p>\n At that time I think it had to do with loyalty.\u00a0 That team was in Washington, and was then known as the Washington Caps.\u00a0 The next season the team would move to Norfolk, and become known as the Squires.\u00a0 One of the players on the team was Larry Brown, who was the coach at North Carolina who recruited me.\u00a0 Basically, it was another recruiting process.\u00a0 I had familiarity with Larry.\u00a0 And I was drafted by the Boston Celtics only after I had signed to play basketball for the Virginia Squires.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think, if I had only intended to play ball in the NBA, that I would have been drafted by the Boston Celtics.\u00a0 That was the same year that they drafted Dave Cowens.\u00a0 The Celtics drafted me with the fourth pick in the seventh round, which wouldn\u2019t have been the case had there only been one league.\u00a0 I would have gone much earlier, in the first round, and the Celtics would probably have had to choose between Dave and myself.\u00a0 The team needed a big man \u2013 Bill Russell had just retired, and Red Auerbach was in a rebuilding mode.\u00a0 So I think the only way the Celtics would have had the chance to draft me was by me signing with the Virginia Squires.\u00a0 It was good fortune all the way around.\u00a0 I ended up in the ABA because of my familiarity with Larry Brown, and the hope that the Squires would emerge very soon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tell me about your agent, Al Ross.<\/strong><\/p>\n People called him \u2018The Pirate,\u2019 although I’m not sure how he got that nickname.\u00a0 Al Ross was known as the lawyer who could get you from one league to the other \u2013 he was the one who got Spencer Haywood out of the ABA and onto the roster in Seattle \u2013 and since I was\u00a0ready to leave the ABA, my association with him grew out of that.\u00a0 Al had the wherewithal and the legal staff to make the transition happen, and he had the relationships with the NBA owners who could pass the league rules regarding player movement.\u00a0 My opportunity to jump leagues arose when the Squires didn\u2019t pay my bonus when it was due, basically breaching the contract.\u00a0 Al Ross worked his magic, and I ended up in Phoenix.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Please tell me about your ABA experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n My ABA experience was a good one.\u00a0 At the time, the NBA was a more sophisticated league.\u00a0 There was more structure.\u00a0 On the court, you had the pick-and-roll.\u00a0 You had Oscar Robertson.\u00a0 You had Wilt Chamberlain.\u00a0 It was more of a fundamental league.\u00a0 The ABA was more of a speed league, with a lot of running.\u00a0 In fact, the ABA is what the NBA is today.\u00a0 It was really ahead of its time.\u00a0 It had the open lane, the three-point shot, the open court \u2013 things the NBA later incorporated into its rule book.\u00a0 In the ABA, you had basketball played without the big man.\u00a0 That was really the biggest difference.\u00a0 You played a game that was not dominated by the big man.\u00a0 Since the inception of the NBA, the league had been primarily dominated by the big men in the post.\u00a0 You had George Mikan, Bill Russell, Wilt.\u00a0 The ABA, on the other\u00a0 hand, was a league dominated by the swiftness of the guards and wing players.\u00a0 That was the style that I played in the ABA, and later \u2013 especially in the 1980s with those great Celtics and Lakers teams \u2013 it was a style adopted by the NBA.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Julius Erving was your teammate that second season.\u00a0 Please tell me a little about Dr. J.<\/strong><\/p>\n The first time I saw Julius play was when the team had rookie camp in Hampton, Virginia.\u00a0 At that time you could tell that he was something special.\u00a0 Julius had a ferocity for the game from the very beginning.\u00a0 His style was one of grace and ferocity, and you could see that he was going to be a great ballplayer.\u00a0 There was never any doubt.\u00a0 With guys like that, you can tell just by the way they play.\u00a0 That first time I saw Julius there was no doubt that he was a superstar.\u00a0 He carried himself like that from Day One.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You jumped to the NBA in 1972, and played three All-Star seasons for the Phoenix Suns.\u00a0 Please tell me about this period in your basketball career.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jerry Colangelo was the general manger at that time.\u00a0 He and Al Ross worked that deal.\u00a0 It was a great experience.\u00a0 Playing in the NBA was everything that I thought it would be, and everything I wanted my basketball career to be about.\u00a0 I enjoyed playing in the NBA.\u00a0 Phoenix was a great place to play, but we didn\u2019t have the talent to compete with players like Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Dave DeBusschere.\u00a0 These players were stars on very strong teams.\u00a0 We just didn\u2019t have the personnel to win on a consistent basis, at least as consistently as I would have liked.\u00a0 And I think management felt the same way.\u00a0 We were in a division where 42 or 43 wins put you in third or fourth place, and at that time only two teams from each division went to the playoffs.\u00a0 That got us nowhere.\u00a0 So that was probably the most disheartening thing.<\/p>\n Still, I have no complaints as far as getting an opportunity to play in the NBA.\u00a0 It was a big thrill for me.\u00a0 I was able to compete against all of those great players that I just mentioned, and that allowed me to measure myself against them on a daily basis.\u00a0 That was the ultimate basketball phenom.\u00a0 It was all that I could have wished for and more.\u00a0 But again, my whole basketball career had been defined by winning, and I wasn\u2019t used to coming up short.\u00a0 It was a humbling experience.\u00a0 I think it made me more appreciative of the winning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May 23, 1975: Boston trades Paul Westphal and two picks for Charlie Scott.<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember that date well \u2013 I was on my way to Brazil.\u00a0 In fact, I was standing in line and Paul Westphal was standing right in front of me.\u00a0 Talk about irony.\u00a0 We were getting ready to catch a flight, and Larry Fleischer asked me if I had heard the news.\u00a0 I said, \u2018What news?\u2019\u00a0 He said, \u2018You were traded to Boston for him.\u2019\u00a0 And then he pointed to Paul.\u00a0 I thought it was a joke.\u00a0 I said, jokingly, \u2018Nah, you know that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 Phoenix got more than that for me.\u2019<\/p>\n I was always a Celtics fan, and I had always wanted to play for them.\u00a0 When I went to Lefty Driesell\u2019s camp as a junior in high school, Red Auerbach was one of the guest speakers.\u00a0 The Celtics played an exhibition game in Charlotte when I was in high school, and my coach took me to the game.\u00a0 I got to meet the great Sam Jones.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always loved winning, and the Celtics were an organization that understood how to win.\u00a0 So being traded to Boston was a thrill.\u00a0 And like I said, I\u2019m very fortunate when it comes to my basketball pedigree.\u00a0 Going to Boston was the icing on the cake.\u00a0 I never worried about fitting in.\u00a0 I never worried about anything.\u00a0 I knew that it was going to be a great circumstance, and that it was going to be a positive situation.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s talk about the 1976 NBA Finals.\u00a0 Game 5 was a classic.\u00a0 In Game 6, you were dominant with 25 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to tell you the truth \u2013 I told [Boston Globe journalist] Bob Ryan this, and you can ask anybody who was on that team and they\u2019ll tell you the same thing:\u00a0 We never worried about Phoenix beating us.\u00a0 We never thought that Phoenix could win that series.\u00a0\u00a0That whole year, Phoenix had never beaten us.\u00a0 The only thing that made the games tight at that time, is the fact that writers Bob Ryan and Mike Lupica kept writing in the papers about how the Boston Celtics were bullying up on the poor Phoenix Suns.\u00a0 As a result, that triple-overtime game was a very closely called game, and that\u2019s\u2019 the only thing that made that game tight.\u00a0One thing people forget about that game is that we were up by twenty-five points at one time.\u00a0Then, the next thing we knew, the score was tied.\u00a0 That was our fault \u2013 our own nonchalance. Give the Suns credit; they came back, things turned around, and they were able to stay in the game and force it into overtime. But did we ever think we were going to lose to the Phoenix Suns?\u00a0 Never in our wildest dreams did we think they had the opportunity to beat us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What made you so sure that the Suns couldn’t beat you?<\/strong><\/p>\n We looked at the player matchups, and we saw no position where we would be outplayed.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you approach it in the playoffs.\u00a0 You ask yourself, \u2018Okay, where is it that you\u2019re going to be beat?\u2019\u00a0 That\u2019s what we did:\u00a0 Paul Westphal versus Jo Jo White?\u00a0 Jo Jo is going to win that.\u00a0 Me and Ricky Sobers or whoever they\u2019ve got?\u00a0 I\u2019m going to win that.\u00a0 Paul Silas and Garfield Heard?\u00a0 Paul is gonna win that.\u00a0 John Havlicek and whoever they put on that other end?\u00a0 John is gonna win that.\u00a0 And then we\u2019ve Dave Cowens in the middle, so tell me where the Phoenix Suns had an advantage over us.\u00a0 That\u2019s how we looked at the game, and the series.\u00a0 So even though that game was such a great game, we, as a team, didn\u2019t see any way for the Phoenix Suns to beat us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Were there any teams that gave you pause that year?<\/strong><\/p>\n To be honest, the team that probably would have been our toughest opponent would have been the San Francisco Warriors.\u00a0 They were the team that had won the title the year before.\u00a0 They lost to Phoenix in seven games.\u00a0 That was the Rick Barry team \u2013 they had beaten Washington the year before.\u00a0 And they had the best record in the Western Conference at that time.\u00a0 Had we played them in the Finals, I’m convinced the outcome would have been the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Game 6 was played on a Sunday in Phoenix.<\/strong><\/p>\n It was played at nine o\u2019clock in the morning.\u00a0 Championship game.\u00a0 CBS had a golf tournament that they were committed to televising that afternoon, and because CBS hadn\u2019t scheduled that right, we had to go out and play in Phoenix on a Sunday morning.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget it; we had a five o\u2019clock wake-up call for a championship game.\u00a0 You have to remember, at nine o\u2019clock in Phoenix, it was noon on the east coast.\u00a0The start time was a small price to play \u2013 like I\u2019ve said, I don\u2019t have much bitching to do when it comes to my basketball career.\u00a0 Things worked out very well for me.\u00a0 If I had my choice, I would have gone to North Carolina.\u00a0 I did that.\u00a0 I would have played for the Boston Celtics and won a world championship.\u00a0 I did that.\u00a0 I feel very fortunate to have things play out the way they did.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your time in Boston was brief, but we have a saying:\u00a0 “Once a Celtic, always a Celtic.”\u00a0 What was it like for you to play for this proud franchise?<\/strong><\/p>\n Once a Celtic, always a Celtic \u2013 Red always said that o me, and I believe it wholeheartedly.\u00a0 Even when I was traded, Red called me, talked to me, and explained the reasons behind the trade.\u00a0 He also tried to accommodate me and my needs.\u00a0 As a player, you can\u2019t ask for anything more under those circumstances.\u00a0 It was short \u2013 I wish it could have been longer \u2013 but fate has its reasons.\u00a0 My departure enabled the team to get another draft choice, which ended up helping them get Larry Bird.\u00a0 So all of those things have fitting reward to them.\u00a0 It was short, but college was only four years and it will forever hold a special place of significance in my heart. \u00a0The same can be said about my time spent with the Boston Celtics.\u00a0 I\u2019ll always consider myself a Celtic.<\/p>\n Everyone, it seems, has a favorite Red Auerbach story.<\/strong><\/p>\n One time we had just lost to the Portland Trailblazers on national TV.\u00a0 We had Sidney Wicks on our team.\u00a0 Red had just signed Sidney to a multi-year contract, and Sidney really wasn\u2019t the type of player that Red was used to having.\u00a0 Not long after that game Red came to practice, and he was giving us a little shakedown on what he thought about our performance, and about what he thought about players giving \u2018false hustle.\u2019\u00a0 And he looked Sidney straight in the eye as he was talking to all of us, and he said, \u2018Some of you guys think that you\u2019ve got it on me because you\u2019ve got long-term contracts, but I\u2019ll tell you what; I wish you bad luck for the rest of your life.\u2019\u00a0 And you know how Red really said it \u2013 he said it the nicest way possible, a smile on his face, but deep down you knew he meant it [laughs].<\/p>\n All Red wanted was your very best as a ballplayer.\u00a0 If you gave that to him, then he never had a problem with you.\u00a0 He and I never had an argument.\u00a0 He never had to bitch about me.\u00a0 I worked hard and did my best, and that\u2019s what he expected.\u00a0 He appreciated my effort.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all you ever want from someone, recognition and appreciation.\u00a0 Red, to me, was the master of understanding what every individual needed in order to become a better player.\u00a0 He\u2019ll tell you that Walter Brown was the architect of the Celtic Dynasty.\u00a0 I never had the pleasure of meeting Walter Brown, but in my heart I know Red to be the architect.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cedric Maxwell was a rookie during your last season with the Celtics.<\/strong><\/p>\n Cornbread!\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you what \u2013 that was magic upon magic.\u00a0 Cedric was all arms and legs his rookie year.\u00a0 He learned how to put all of that together, and some way it was able to come out as some type of fluidity [laughs].\u00a0 Cedric is a great guy \u2013 he was a great guy as a rookie, but he was all arms and legs then [laughs]!<\/p>\n With Cedric, I think he had to figure out how to fit his talent into what the Celtics were trying to do.\u00a0 Fit those talents into the Celtics style.\u00a0 And when he did that, then those arms and legs became very much a weapon.\u00a0 He had to develop that little jump-hook, and he had to learn how to move without the ball.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t used to doing those things in college.\u00a0 Again, Red put together the perfect team.\u00a0 When you look at Larry, Cedric, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, it was perfect foursome.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of your time spent with the Boston Celtics, do you have a fond memory or an amusing story that stands out most?<\/strong><\/p>\n Most of the time, the things that are amusing are the things that you can\u2019t talk about [laughs].\u00a0 That\u2019s the case with my time with the Boston Celtics.\u00a0 You know, we shared a lot of things together as a team, and a lot of things will just have to stay that way [laughs].<\/p>\n I just enjoyed my time there.\u00a0 One of my best friends was Jo Jo.\u00a0 He and his wife Debbie got together with me and my wife as much as possible, so the friendships were the fun things.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been lucky to go from one family tradition in college to another in the pros.\u00a0 I remember Howie [McHugh], who used to be the team\u2019s publicity guy.\u00a0 I remember Randy, who used to be the equipment guy.\u00a0 Randy was always there for us.\u00a0 Those are the people that the average fan forgets about, but those are the people that made the Boston Celtics a family.\u00a0 Those are the things that I remember.<\/p>\n You never forget the sound of the Boston Garden late in a two-point game, especially against Philadelphia, or the Lakers, or against New York.\u00a0 Those are the times that all made it fun and worthwhile.\u00a0 And to be on the Celtics side makes it even greater.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Final Question:\u00a0 If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what would that be?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s hard.\u00a0 I got a lot of advice from a lot of people.\u00a0 But I think, above all else, that a person should take responsibility, regardless of failure or success.\u00a0 I think that when you learn to accept failure, you learn how to appreciate success.\u00a0 I also think the biggest problem we have now, is that people don\u2019t accept responsibility when something goes wrong \u2013 it\u2019s always someone else\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By:\u00a0 Michael D. McClellan | His professional career was supposed to start here, in Boston, joining Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens as part of Red Auerbach\u2019s post-Russell rebuilding plan. Forget that the ABA\u2019s Virginia Squires also had designs on Charlie Scott\u2019s services, and that it was a foregone conclusion that Scott would follow the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","iawp_total_views":14,"footnotes":""},"categories":[773,775],"tags":[362],"class_list":["post-7985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-interview","category-team-green","tag-charlie-scott"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/basketball-300x50.png\")
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