Scot L. Pollard (born February 12, 1975) is an American former 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. In an 11-year

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 ...

career, he played for five teams, spending the bulk of his career with the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

and the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

.Big man Pollard adds size, depth to Celts' bench
– updated August 7, 2007 Pollard was born in

Murray, Utah Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, the city had a population of 50,637 as of the 2020 United States Census. Murray shares borde ...

, and grew up in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

. He attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

and was the 19th pick of the

1997 NBA draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto R ...

, selected by the

Detroit 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 (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. For every season, except his first, Pollard appeared in the NBA Playoffs including in the

2007 NBA Finals The 2007 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2006–07 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs d ...

with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. He won a championship in his final season (2007–08) with the

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), ...

. Pollard appeared as a contestant in '' Survivor: Kaôh Rōng'' in 2016.

Early life and college

Pollard was one of six children in a devout

Latter-Day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

family, but Pollard never embraced the religion. His father, Pearl Pollard, played basketball at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. For three years, he played high school basketball at

Torrey Pines High School Torrey Pines High School is a high school in the North County area of San Diego, California. The school is named after the Torrey pine tree that grows in the area. Torrey Pines High School is a member of the San Dieguito Union High School Di ...

before moving to

to play for

Kamiakin High School Kamiakin High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school in Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick, Washington (state), Washington, the second of three comprehensive high schools in the Kennewick School District. Kamiakin opened ...

most of his senior year. ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' magazine named Pollard a high school All-American in 1993. He eventually graduated from Torrey Pines and attended the

, where he graduated in 1997 with a degree in education. While playing

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

basketball, Pollard finished sixth in Jayhawks history among free throw shooters with 358, fourth in rebounds with 850, and second in blocked shots with 218.

NBA career

Pollard was selected 19th overall in the

by the

, with whom he debuted during the 1997-98 NBA season. In 33 games with the Pistons, he averaged 2.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game. He was traded to the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

for

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

, but Pollard never suited up for a game with them and was waived almost a month later. Pollard was traded to the

, whose management was in the midst of building a successful playoff team at the time. With the Kings he suffered an injury that allowed him to play only for sixteen games during the lockout-shortened 1999 season. It was during his stint with the Kings that he became a solid backup to center

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento King ...

, often starting at power forward when

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973), nicknamed "C-Webb", is an American former professional basketball player. Webber played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), with the largest portion of his career sp ...

was injured. Pollard spent the 2002–03 NBA season plagued by injuries. After that season, he was traded to the

. With the Pacers Pollard had an average of 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 points scored, and 0.4 assists per game. He played an average of about 12 minutes per game. Cavs bench nov 2006

Pollard's contract with the Pacers expired following the 2005–06 season. On August 18, 2006, Pollard signed a one-year contract with the

. The Cavaliers lost the

to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

four games to none, and Pollard played one minute of game 2. On August 9, 2007, Pollard signed a one-year contract with the Boston Celtics. Pollard chose #66 as his new uniform number, and jokingly claimed he took it because he would not be allowed to have three 6's. Pollard played limited minutes during the season and saw no playing time during the Celtics championship run in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. He retired shortly after.

Hair styles

Pollard was known across the NBA for his peculiar hairstyles, which included a Mohawk, a single

pony tail A ponytail is a hairstyle in which some, most, or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip, or other similar accessory and allowed to hang freely from that poi ...

, a

man bun A bun is a type of hairstyle in which the hair is pulled back from the face, twisted or plaited, and wrapped in a circular coil around itself, typically on top or back of the head or just above the neck. A bun can be secured with a hair tie, b ...

, and a bald head. On January 2, 2006, he introduced a new hairstyle when he wore two pony tails during a Pacers home game against the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

. While with the

, Pollard received the nickname "Samurai Scot".

Other pursuits

Broadcasting

During the 2007–08 season, Pollard hosted "Planet Pollard," a segment of the show ''Celtics Now'', on

Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...

. He visited various locales and often gave tours and information about the place he was visiting. On April 12, 2008, during a game against the

, Pollard filled in for color commentator

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a pl ...

on CSN New England's game telecast. Pollard, who was out for the season after left ankle surgery, has color analyst experience with the

and WNBA's

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Aren ...

. Pollard joined

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular se ...

in 2009. On October 3, 2014, Mark Boyle announced that Pollard would be joining the Indiana Pacers radio crew.

Acting

In 2012, Pollard portrayed the titular Axeman in the horror film ''Axeman at Cutter's Creek''. In 2014, he played the role of B. H. Born in the film ''Jayhawkers''.

''Survivor''

In 2016, Pollard appeared as a contestant on '' Survivor: Kaôh Rōng'', competing in the 32nd season of the competitive

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' as part of the To Tang, Gondol, and Dara tribes. The competition was filmed in Kaoh Rong,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

during the spring of 2015 and premiered on February 17, 2016. Though ''Kaôh Rōng'' was the 32nd season to air, it was the 31st filmed, having been shot before '' Survivor: Cambodia'', which aired first; the two seasons were filmed back-to-back in the same location. He was voted out on Day 27 by a 4–2–2 vote and became the fourth member of the jury.

Health

In January 2024, Pollard revealed that he needed a heart transplant due to a genetic issue that was triggered by a virus he contracted in 2021. He was admitted to the ICU in February 2024 while waiting for the transplant. On February 16, 2024, Pollard underwent successful heart transplant surgery. Five months later, he sent a letter to the donor’s family expressing his gratitude and offering to meet them. In March 2025, over a year after the surgery, Pollard met the donor’s wife, son, and sister in person, allowing them to listen to their loved one’s heartbeat and thanking them for the gift of life.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

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, 77 , , 8 , , 21.5 , , .468 , , .000 , , .749 , , 6.0 , , .6 , , .6 , , 1.3 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 29 , , 23.5 , , .550 , , , , .693 , , 7.1 , , .7 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 0 , , 14.1 , , .460 , , , , .605 , , 4.6 , , .3 , , .6 , , .7 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 61 , , 3 , , 11.1 , , .412 , , , , .571 , , 2.7 , , .2 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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, 45 , , 32 , , 17.1 , , .455 , , , , .763 , , 4.8 , , .5 , , .8 , , .4 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 22 , , 0 , , 7.9 , , .522 , , , , .682 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 506 , , 99 , , 16.5 , , .494 , , .000 , , .709 , , 4.6 , , .4 , , .6 , , .7 , , 4.4

Playoffs

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1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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, 8 , , 0 , , 11.4 , , .292 , , , , .769 , , 3.8 , , .3 , , .1 , , .9 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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References

External links

Scot Pollard
– college basketball player statistics at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Scot 1975 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from San Diego Basketball players from Utah Basketball players from Washington (state) Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Indiana Pacers players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sportspeople from Kennewick, Washington Sportspeople from Murray, Utah Power forwards Sacramento Kings players Survivor (franchise) contestants Heart transplant recipients