Ray Scott

John Raymond Scott (born July 12, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he attended West Philadelphia High School, where he excelled in basketball.

Scott played twelve seasons in professional basketball, ten in the National Basketball Association with the Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets, and two with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association. After retiring as a player, he was selected as an assistant coach of the Pistons by Earl Lloyd. Seven games into the 1972–73 season, Lloyd was fired, and Scott was chosen to replace him as head coach. In his first full season, in 1973–74, the Pistons won 52 games and reached the postseason for the first time in six years. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year, becoming the first African-American to win the honor and the only one until 1991. The Pistons made the postseason twice during Scott's coaching career before he was fired 42 games into the 1975–76 season.

He later coached at Eastern Michigan University from 1976 to 1979, after which he became an insurance executive for three decades.