The Charlie Scott Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Wednesday, May 11th, 2005
Your time in Boston was brief, but we have a saying: "Once a Celtic, always
a Celtic." What was it like for you to play for this proud franchise?
Once
a Celtic, always a Celtic – Red has always said to me, and I believe it
wholeheartedly. He has always made me feel that way. At that time, the
coronation of being a Boston Celtic was winning a championship. That made
it even more special. Even when I was traded, Red called me, talked to me,
and explained the reasons behind the trade. He also tried to accommodate me
and my needs. As a player, you can’t ask for anything more under those
circumstances. It was short – I wish it could have been longer – but fate
has its reasons. My departure enabled the team to get another draft choice,
which ended up helping them get Larry Bird. So all of those things have
fitting reward to them. It was short, but college was only four years and
it will forever hold a special place of significance in my heart. The same
can be said about my time spent with the Boston Celtics. I’ll always
consider myself a Celtic.
Everyone, it seems, has a favorite Red Auerbach story. Do you have one that
stands out?
I’ll
never forget, one time we had just lost to the Portland Trailblazers on
national TV. We had Sidney Wicks on our team. Red had just signed Sidney
to a multi-year contract, and Sidney really wasn’t the type of player that
Red was used to having. 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 ‘false hustle.’
And he looked Sidney straight in the eye as he was talking to all of us, and
he said, ‘Some of you guys think that you’ve got it on me because you’ve got
long-term contracts, but I’ll tell you what; I wish you bad luck for the
rest of your life.’ And you know how Red really said it – I said it the
nice way [laughs].
To me, that just signified what Red really believed. All he wanted was your everything as a ballplayer. If you gave that to him, then he never had a problem with you. He and I never had an argument. He never had to bitch about me. I worked hard and did my best, and that’s what he expected. He appreciated my effort. And that’s all you ever want from someone, recognition and appreciation. Red, to me, was the master of understanding what every individual needed in order to become a better player. He’ll tell you that Walter Brown was the architect of the Celtic Dynasty. I never had the pleasure of meeting Walter Brown, but in my heart I know Red to be the architect.
Cedric Maxwell was a rookie during your last season with the Celtics. Could
you tell that he was going to be a special player?
Cornbread!
I’ll tell you what – that was magic upon magic. Cedric was all arms and
legs his rookie year. He learned how to put all of that together, and some
way it was able to come out as some type of fluidity [laughs]. Cedric is a
great guy – he was a great guy as a rookie, but he was all arms and legs
then [laughs]!
With Cedric, I think he had to figure out how to fit his talent into what the Celtics were trying to do. Fit those talents into the Celtics style. And when he did that, then those arms and legs became very much a weapon. He had to develop that little jump-hook, and he had to learn how to move without the ball. He wasn’t used to doing those things in college. Again, Red put together the perfect team. When you look at Larry, Cedric, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, it was perfect foursome.
Of
your time spent with the Boston Celtics, do you have a fond memory or an
amusing story that stands out most?
Most
of the time, the things that are amusing are the things that you can’t talk
about [laughs]. That’s the case with my time with the Boston Celtics. 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].
I just enjoyed my time there. One of my best friends is Jo Jo. He and his wife Debbie get together with me and my wife as much as possible, so the friendships were the fun things. I’ve been lucky to go from one family tradition in college to another in the pros. I remember ol’ Howie [McHugh], who used to be the team’s publicity guy. I remember Randy, who used to be the equipment guy. Randy was always there for us. Those are the people that the average fan forgets about, but those are the people that made the Boston Celtics a family. Those are the things that I remember.
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. Those are the times that all made it fun and worthwhile. And to be on the Celtics side makes it even greater.
Let's talk life after basketball. What have you been up to in the years
since retiring from the NBA?
I
lived in California for awhile – from 1980 until 1990 – and then I moved
back to Atlanta with my wife. We have three kids. I worked for Champion
for seven years, and now I do consulting work for Russell Athletics. My
children are twelve, fifteen and seventeen.
Final
Question: You’ve achieved great success in your life. You are universally
respected and admired by many people, both inside and outside of the NBA.
If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what would that
be?
That’s
hard. I got a lot of advice from a lot of people. But I think, above all
else, that a person should take responsibility, regardless of failure or
success. I think that when you learn to accept failure, you learn how to
appreciate success. I also think the biggest problem we have now, is that
people don’t accept responsibility when something goes wrong – it’s always
someone else’s fault.
