Speaker 1: This is Black History Month. Inspirations The seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: Podcast Network miniseries, Part four, Lessons in Toughness. It was
Speaker 1: April of twenty nineteen and Mike Scott hadn't even been
Speaker 1: with the seventy six Ers for two months. That might
Speaker 1: not sound like a long time, but for a guy
Speaker 1: like Scott, the moment he puts on your jersey, you've
Speaker 1: got his heart. So it should have come as no
Speaker 1: surprise that Scott responded the way he did when this
Speaker 1: situation broke out at the center in a late season
Speaker 1: matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks and now here again they're
Speaker 1: deary and debt a hip with a hue to three
Speaker 1: and he makes them pay Joel and be, whoa man,
Speaker 1: there's that bless up? He just whipped the bullet. Be Oh,
Speaker 1: look up, what's what's so for? Wake claws him? Hard
Speaker 1: work that car? Wow? Let's so he threw the bad
Speaker 1: and be I just glanced up and saw that. Oh, by,
Speaker 1: he just fired the ball. He's gotta be tossed out
Speaker 1: of here? Are you kidding me? And the coaches come out,
Speaker 1: the head coaches to separate the antagonists. Unbelievable. I have
Speaker 1: not seen a violent act like that. In years they
Speaker 1: glued to whistle when letsoe game a little chef to
Speaker 1: the back there and then mb tossed the ball and
Speaker 1: he Letso tossed the back. So let's Mike Scott, I
Speaker 1: think tossed the ball in there as well. It was
Speaker 1: hard to blame him given the circumstances. He understandably came
Speaker 1: to the defense of his teammate technical foul two. Perhaps
Speaker 1: not so coincidentally, Scott then proceeded to go off in
Speaker 1: the best possible way. Had a Sexers taken down the
Speaker 1: court to Scott, Mike Scott left corner, got it baby
Speaker 1: up Scottie put it in play Mike Smith to get
Speaker 1: it to Scott. And that's what's for three for Mike
Speaker 1: Scott Scott from the Scot Scot Wow. Maybe another one
Speaker 1: that says Scott three and dirty cos for Mike Scott.
Speaker 1: Joel turns La, jumps around Lopez at the corner. Scott
Speaker 1: for three. He done it again, Bike Scott baseline left,
Speaker 1: Joel kicks it out, Scott knocks it in six or
Speaker 1: spite five. Scott finished the game with twenty two points,
Speaker 1: which tied a season high, and knocked down six of
Speaker 1: eight three point attempts scuttle in the first quarter. How
Speaker 1: port was it to kind of jump in there and
Speaker 1: be like, Hey, that's my team, A paper panie girl,
Speaker 1: come straight? Yeah, I mean I'm always gonna ride. Um.
Speaker 1: That's just how I am. We live right or wrong.
Speaker 1: If it's wrong, we'll talk about it after the game,
Speaker 1: but you know, during the game, that's how I am.
Speaker 1: There's plenty more to Mike Scott than toughness, but make
Speaker 1: no mistake about it. For the Chesapeake native, toughness is
Speaker 1: one of his defining traits. I think that's his current
Speaker 1: from Virgin five seven. After a game, Scott wants you
Speaker 1: to remember who you went up against. Play as hard
Speaker 1: as a dog. You know, he makes shots, he's you
Speaker 1: know when he switched on them, he's gonna try to
Speaker 1: bury you or just you know, push you around. You know,
Speaker 1: he's physical. You know when he comes to the game,
Speaker 1: you know he's gonna play with a lot of energy
Speaker 1: and be physical and be tough and do whatever it
Speaker 1: takes to win. The obvious question is where does Scott's
Speaker 1: toughness come from. The answer can be found close to
Speaker 1: the heart, close to home, and essentially identical in name.
Speaker 1: His dad, Michael H. Scott, was a marine for twenty
Speaker 1: five years straight out of high school. It was tough, know,
Speaker 1: he didn't go for did tours. He was a drill sergeant,
Speaker 1: did tours and you know, death Storm and Iraq and
Speaker 1: all that stuff. You know. He was a beast. He
Speaker 1: was tough, he was in shape, he didn't get fat,
Speaker 1: old and as it should the other crazy right. At
Speaker 1: one point, the elder Scott held three jobs. These days,
Speaker 1: he's still living in Chesapeake, Virginia. Since twenty thirteen, he's
Speaker 1: been working in the Norfolk Public School system at school security.
Speaker 1: On one of the walls of his office is the
Speaker 1: reproduction of a painting of his son, commissioned by a
Speaker 1: friend from Mike himself. Young Mike was a very interesting kid,
Speaker 1: you know, because, for the most part, he was a
Speaker 1: lot taller than all the other kids of his age,
Speaker 1: and to him, he felt that he needed to shrink
Speaker 1: down to their size, not realizing that, Okay, that's not
Speaker 1: ever going to really happen. You're going to continuously be
Speaker 1: taller than most of the folks that you're hanging around,
Speaker 1: especially if you hang around children of your age. We
Speaker 1: worked on building that confidence and being able to stand
Speaker 1: up and stand tall, so quite literally, Scott stood out.
Speaker 1: When Scott was born in July of nineteen eighty eight,
Speaker 1: his father had already lost nearly a decade of service
Speaker 1: in the Marines. He enlisted in August nineteen seventy eight.
Speaker 1: Was a fairly decent academic kid, and school didn't interest
Speaker 1: me like that anymore. A friend of mine came to
Speaker 1: me and said, hey, I'm going to the Marines, man,
Speaker 1: you should come here with me on the buddy system.
Speaker 1: I looked at him, and then I looked at me,
Speaker 1: and I said, Okay, I'm a lot stronger than him.
Speaker 1: I'm a lot more athletic than him. My academic is
Speaker 1: a lot higher than his. And if he thinks he
Speaker 1: can make it, I know I can make it. And
Speaker 1: I'm not seeing that the slightly guy, because he was
Speaker 1: good at what he do. I just knew that if
Speaker 1: he can make it, I know I was going to
Speaker 1: be able to make it. And as funny as it
Speaker 1: may seem, I end up carrying him through boot camp.
Speaker 1: Michael Scott had an interest in sports growing up, but
Speaker 1: wasn't exactly encouraged to play. His parents wanted him focused
Speaker 1: on his education and preparing to enter the workforce. Wanted
Speaker 1: a different experience for his own kids. I said, Okay,
Speaker 1: something has to change, And as I grew into adulthood
Speaker 1: and started my own family, I made sure that you know,
Speaker 1: everything with Mike was going to be, you know where
Speaker 1: he needed it to be or what was best for
Speaker 1: him and give him a successful life. In the end,
Speaker 1: when Scott reflects on his military days, his voice is
Speaker 1: filled with fondness and nostalgia. There's no hint of fatigue, regret,
Speaker 1: or resentment. He even called himself lucky because each of
Speaker 1: the three positions he held in the Marines kept him
Speaker 1: relatively sedentary for extended periods of time. Scott had two
Speaker 1: stints on Paris Island near Hilton Head in South Carolina.
Speaker 1: Then when Mike was born, his dad was based out
Speaker 1: of the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. After that,
Speaker 1: Michael Scott's final duty station took him in his family
Speaker 1: across the country to Camp Pendleton in southern California. My
Speaker 1: last employment took me out for the grueling six months,
Speaker 1: which actually turns into be almost nine months, but at
Speaker 1: that time, prior to me going out, I actually sent
Speaker 1: Mike back this way. I was out in California. I
Speaker 1: sent him back this way, and they set up a
Speaker 1: household back here, and you know, kept things going until
Speaker 1: I got back here the following year. That was that
Speaker 1: time period that I was away from them. But believe me,
Speaker 1: every opportunity I had, I was on the phone. I
Speaker 1: was trying to do some type of video. You know,
Speaker 1: they didn't have all these fancy gadgets where you can
Speaker 1: do zoom and all this stuff like you're able to
Speaker 1: do now. I didn't have a cell phone, so you know,
Speaker 1: I was trying to make calls from the ship or whatever.
Speaker 1: We made it work. We made it work. We made
Speaker 1: it work. We made it work. Before Mike Scott was
Speaker 1: sent back East, something seminal happened on his dad's base.
Speaker 1: That's where Mike actually started playing basketball. Before Mike was
Speaker 1: out of elementary school, he was already turning heads, especially
Speaker 1: his father's who had returned home and retired from the service.
Speaker 1: In his early days, he played recreational ball and this
Speaker 1: was like when he was like eight years old. During
Speaker 1: the game, he ended up with like forty five points
Speaker 1: for that particular game. And you know, some folks would say, well,
Speaker 1: he hogged the ball. No, he was only able to
Speaker 1: play two quarters. He played the second and the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: only second and fourth quarter, and ended up with them
Speaker 1: forty five points. And I was another one of those
Speaker 1: turning points for him, or those moments for him, that
Speaker 1: he really accomplished something. Then that's when I seen that
Speaker 1: flash of okay, maybe he got something here in the
Speaker 1: Scott household. However, there was an important distinction. Basketball was
Speaker 1: a reward, not a right. He only played schoolball if
Speaker 1: Graves was right. And that was the deal between here
Speaker 1: and I. If your grades aren't right, then you don't
Speaker 1: get a chance to play freshman year. He tried to
Speaker 1: test the waters and had some questionable, questionable grades. But
Speaker 1: then the coach said to know home one day and said,
Speaker 1: missus Scott, Mike has to go to study hall. I
Speaker 1: took that same note. I turned it over and I said, no, coach,
Speaker 1: Mike will be coming home. He'll be doing his study
Speaker 1: hall at home with me, and until further notice, he
Speaker 1: will not be with the team. Once he picked the
Speaker 1: grades back up, then maybe he'll be able to rejoin
Speaker 1: the team before your permission. And so that's what we
Speaker 1: did there. Was another condition between Mike and his dad,
Speaker 1: whether Mike liked it or not. Back then, my dad
Speaker 1: used to make played with the older guys and they
Speaker 1: used to pump me, and they used to man, you
Speaker 1: gotta get tougher. You know. They wouldn't call me soft,
Speaker 1: but I feel like it was. You know, I probably was,
Speaker 1: you know, timid and a little soft. You know, it
Speaker 1: was a little frail, six six, two hundred pounds. And
Speaker 1: I didn't really have that, you know, that tough mentality
Speaker 1: demeter until I started getting older and start getting that mindset.
Speaker 1: But you know, growing up I should just get you know,
Speaker 1: not bullied. But he just always to take maybe play
Speaker 1: with the older guys, and I guess that would just
Speaker 1: help me get you know, get that mindset, get tougher.
Speaker 1: Something worth noting the context both Mike Scott and his
Speaker 1: dad used when talking about Mike and his toughness. It's
Speaker 1: all about what's going on between his ears. He's not
Speaker 1: a physical tough guy as far as someone that constantly
Speaker 1: I had to go to school to because he was
Speaker 1: always in fights. He was able to handle himself, so
Speaker 1: he was able to avoid much of that. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of what he has now is that mental
Speaker 1: toughness and that aggressiveness. And I think a lot of
Speaker 1: that came from him. I would say, watching me during
Speaker 1: my Marine Corps career, because you know, oftentimes I would
Speaker 1: take him to work with me, and he watched me.
Speaker 1: You know, give commands to twenty thirty guys and they
Speaker 1: go ahead and do it. They got to do and
Speaker 1: if they don't want to do it, then they suffer
Speaker 1: the consequence whatever that may be. I always pushed them
Speaker 1: to to, hey, you can overcome this. You can overcome
Speaker 1: whatever challenges that comes in Funny, take that situation as
Speaker 1: a learned experience and you keep on pushing forld. So
Speaker 1: you know, that's that's why I think a lot of
Speaker 1: that toughness comes from for Michael Scott. Finding the best
Speaker 1: balance didn't come right away. Initially that was the approach
Speaker 1: what I used at work, I used at home, and
Speaker 1: then I realized that, know that that is not the
Speaker 1: right format. That's that's not going to work because what
Speaker 1: we do in the Marine Corps, especially during the time
Speaker 1: I was a fill instructor, you know, we do a
Speaker 1: lot of intimidation factors. They realizing that they're out there
Speaker 1: with us, they're on an island. There's no way for
Speaker 1: them to get home. I initially had that same concept
Speaker 1: when I came home, but I realized that, no, that's
Speaker 1: not it. I'm talking about my child, someone that I love,
Speaker 1: and I can't use that same tactic on him because
Speaker 1: I will end up burning him out and just totally
Speaker 1: destroying him mentally. I pulled back a whole lot, and
Speaker 1: you know, just started focusing on just nurturing him more
Speaker 1: and at the same time making sure I maintained that
Speaker 1: level of tough love and we got through it. I
Speaker 1: was determined that he was going to be successful in something,
Speaker 1: whether or not it was in sports, whether or not
Speaker 1: it was academically, whether or not it was somewhere in
Speaker 1: corporate America. He was going to be successful in something,
Speaker 1: and so he was. Mike Scott landed a scholarship to
Speaker 1: one of his home state premier schools, University of Virginia.
Speaker 1: Senior season at Virginia, Scott's team also featured future NBA
Speaker 1: players Joe Harris and Milcolm Brockdon. Mike Scott was huge
Speaker 1: for Virginia, understanding as his senior he needed to put
Speaker 1: the team on his back, and he did that in
Speaker 1: overtime and he was shorting the difference in the way.
Speaker 1: The outcome of this turned out well, Maryland struggled at
Speaker 1: the free throw line. Scott was chosen in the second
Speaker 1: round of the twenty twelve NBA Draft by Atlanta. At
Speaker 1: that time, the Hawks, featuring Al Horford, Lou Williams, and
Speaker 1: Jeff Teague were a perennial playoff team. Blue william spends
Speaker 1: it up Tom Mike Scott. Mike turned the other way
Speaker 1: before with its at the top of the key. Great
Speaker 1: Scott for three and so began the next phase of
Speaker 1: Scott's education and toughness. I was in Atlanta. I had
Speaker 1: some I had some hardcore vets, you know, my rookie.
Speaker 1: I had Josh Smith, sn Stevenson, Anthony Morrow, Louis my vet.
Speaker 1: I was there. I had great professionals Kyle Korver, Devin
Speaker 1: Harry and at the same time how professionals anti the tolerable,
Speaker 1: like guys who I learned, like how to be a
Speaker 1: pro you know, Paul Millsap got there, to Mark Carrol.
Speaker 1: But for the most part, you know, I was always
Speaker 1: talking to be physical, be aggressive, had that mind frame
Speaker 1: of nobody's gonna pump me and just play that chicken
Speaker 1: your shoulders. The lessons have been long lasting. Scott is
Speaker 1: now a father of two ds. The apple and the
Speaker 1: tree seemed to be in full effect when I'm talking
Speaker 1: to my son, and when I'm with my son, I
Speaker 1: could see like, oh, yeah, that's how my dad would do,
Speaker 1: you know, just being showing that tough love. My dad
Speaker 1: had a lot of tough love, and that's how That's
Speaker 1: how sometimes I show love to my son, showing him discipline.
Speaker 1: That's what my dad showed me. He had some of
Speaker 1: them same qualities that I see when I observe him
Speaker 1: and his son together now. To be honest with you,
Speaker 1: his daughter, I think she got him wrapped around that finger.
Speaker 1: And that's just the normal thing. That's just the way
Speaker 1: it is what ads and girls. It's something I used
Speaker 1: to say to Mike. We used to say. I would
Speaker 1: say the great and he would say Scott, and so
Speaker 1: we would just go on with that. And so I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's doing that with his son now,
Speaker 1: but that's just something that I would say to him
Speaker 1: to assure that ad, you got to remember that Scott
Speaker 1: has a sense of greatness in you, and you got
Speaker 1: to uphold that and you got to keep it moving.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt by graduating from the University of Virginia
Speaker 1: and carving out a nine year career in the NBA,
Speaker 1: Mike Scott has indeed done great things to honor his
Speaker 1: family name. Dad watches regularly and to bring the story
Speaker 1: full circle. He had the TV on back in April
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen when Eric Bledsoe went after Joel Embiid. I've
Speaker 1: watched that situation a few times over and I was like, ohkay,
Speaker 1: I said, well, you know, you're just defending your teammate
Speaker 1: and you have to be able to have his back
Speaker 1: just as you expect him to have your back. And
Speaker 1: that's what he's all about. He's going to make sure
Speaker 1: that he is a nurturer. He is one that's going
Speaker 1: to be there for, you know, his next guy. In
Speaker 1: other words, he's going to be his brother's keeping, something
Speaker 1: that I have been doing for man all my life.
Speaker 1: For as much as Michael Scott may have inspired his son,
Speaker 1: Mike has provided his dad quite the right in return
Speaker 1: because of the things that he has accomplished, you know, academically,
Speaker 1: and you know, all the other challenges and trials and
Speaker 1: tribulation that we went through as a family, and he's
Speaker 1: able to still stand tall and still feel good about himself.
Speaker 1: So as a result, being rewarded with being able to
Speaker 1: play in the league for these nine seasons has been
Speaker 1: Oh man, it just brings joy to my heart. Joy
Speaker 1: to my heart. Black History Month Inspirations is a production
Speaker 1: of the seventy six Ers Podcast Network. Our voice artist
Speaker 1: is Nick McCain. Production support from Mike Scott and Michael Scott.
Speaker 1: Music courtesy of APM Music. Look for text versions of
Speaker 1: these episodes on the seventy six ers digital and social platforms,
Speaker 1: and be sure to search the seventy six Ers Podcast
Speaker 1: Network's back catalog for previous installments in this four part
Speaker 1: mini series. And lastly, remember Black History Month is really
Speaker 1: more than a month. These are stories and themes that
Speaker 1: should be told them kept in mind every day.