Former NBA Coach Ray Scott | Progress, Not Perfection

This interview is so much more than a discussion about leadership. It’s a reflection on the incredible progress that has been made in the United States and the work that still needs to be done. Born in South Philadelphia, former professional basketball player and coach Ray Scott discusses a formative trip he took as a 12-year-old boy to the segregated South in 1950. He talks about the bravery amid intimidation and death threats of the first African American players in the National Basketball Association. He shares what he learned from pioneering leaders he was fortunate to meet and get to know like Muhammad Ali, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Aretha Franklin, and his mentor and coach Earl Lloyd.

Additionally, Coach Scott talks about his role as a leader during his playing and coaching career in professional basketball. Ray discusses the importance of forming habits, being a pioneer, establishing the right mindset in very difficult circumstances. mentorship, determining individual readiness to lead other people, building a self-reliant team, and coaching former players.

In 1961, Ray Scott was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the #4 overall pick in the National Basketball Association Draft. His professional playing career spanned 11 years with the Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, and Virginia Squires. He became an assistant coach and eventually the head coach of the Detroit Pistons during the early 1970s. In 1974, Ray became the first African American Coach of the Year. He went on to become the head men’s basketball coach at Eastern Michigan University and then had a long, successful career in business. Ray is the author of The NBA in Black and White: The Memoir of a Trailblazing NBA Player and Coach.