Fred Joseph Scolari (March 1, 1922 – October 17, 2002) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. At 5'10", he played the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position.

Biography

Though he was blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and often overweight, "Fat Freddie" excelled in basketball at Galileo High School and the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. In 1946, he joined the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerb ...

of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

(now the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

) at the start of a nine-year (1946–1955) professional career with the Capitols,

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA ...

, Baltimore Bullets,

Fort Wayne Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at ...

and

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. He was one of the last two NBA players who played in its predecessor BAA from its inception in 1946 to retire. Scolari became known for his unorthodox, yet effective, shooting style, in which he released the ball from his hip. He led the BAA in free-throw percentage for the

1946–47 BAA season The 1946–47 BAA season was the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America. The league launched with 11 teams playing a 60-game schedule. The postseason tournament (the 1947 BAA Playoffs) at its conclusion, ended with the Philad ...

. He was also a well-regarded defender, and was voted to the

All-BAA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

in 1947 and 1948. After his basketball career ended, he became a successful

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

salesman. He later served as director of the

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

Boys and Girls Club Boys & Girls Club may refer to: * Boys & Girls Clubs of America * Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada * Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, Bronx, United States * Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, in Essex and East London, England * The Boys' and Girls' Clubs ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In 1998, he was elected to the

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in 1979. It is loca ...

. He died in 2002.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

External links

Obituary
from ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' 1922 births 2002 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) head coaches Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from San Francisco Boston Celtics players Fort Wayne Pistons players NBA All-Stars Basketball player-coaches Point guards San Francisco Dons men's basketball players Syracuse Nationals players Washington Capitols players {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub