Scott Lifts Lid on Growing Up with NBA All-Stars

Cairns Taipans import Shannon Scott has opened up on his childhood and the lessons he learnt from his father – three-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer, Charlie Scott.

Scott delved into his unique up-bringing being surrounded by NBA royalty without realising on the latest episode of The Huddle with Liam Santamaria.

Scott revealed he didn’t know his father was a legend until he was in primary school.

“Seven or eight years old it really kind of clicked for me that people were kind of, you know, looking up to this guy,” Scott said.

“Growing up I’m around a bunch of NBA All-Star Hall of Famers and I’m not realising who they are because I’m young…something’s a little different about my dad than this guy at school’s dad next to me.

“You’re at an NBA All-Star weekend with celebrities but you don’t realise.”

Charlie Scott played eight seasons in the NBA, was a member of the United States' 1968 gold medal winning team, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

He played for the Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Laker and Denver Nuggets, winning a championship in 1976 with the Celtics. He made the All-Star team in three straight years from 1973-1975.

A standout in Charlie’s career, and what Shannon is most proud of his father for, is being the first African American scholarship holder at the University of North Carolina.

“I know he achieved a tremendous amount on the floor and I would love to say I can shoot that much on the floor,” Scott said.

“His trail blazing, being the first African American at Carolina and kind of making that pathway for guys that come through there is definitely probably the biggest thing (I’m proud of).

“Leaving his family completely just to be in that environment to kind of better himself and being a teenager and having to see a lot of racism, a lot of things that most teenagers shouldn’t be seeing, and he had to go through it…in college his whole team had to back him up a lot of times.

“Knowing that he did that pushes me.”

Having an NBA legend and basketball icon as a father has helped Scott carry over his dad’s advice to the NBL and implementing that into the mindset of his teammates.

“Now in my career he kind of has said I told you everything you need to know now, you have enough knowledge of what’s going on, I definitely trust you in what you’re doing, you know what you’ve got to do out there,” Scott said.

“They (Scott’s Taipans teammates) teach me a lot of stuff as well. Read the scout man, read the personnel and know what the guys want to do.”

With a promising 4-1 start to the season, the relationship Scott has established with Taipans coach Adam Forde may be the drive he and the team need to make this campaign memorable.

“He’s done a great job with myself and with this team and it’s giving us confidence,” Scott said.

“We are able to be who we are 24/7 with him.

“He wanted to make sure that we understood that this team was not last year’s team, and this season is not last year’s season.

“Despite what happened last year we’re not going to let that determine what’s going to happen this year.”