Scot Pollard

Scot L. Pollard (born February 12, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player.

In an 11-year NBA career, he played for five teams, spending the bulk of his career with the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers.

Pollard was born in Murray, Utah, and grew up in San Diego and Kennewick, Washington.

Parade magazine named Pollard a high school All-American in 1993.

He attended the University of Kansas and was the 19th pick of the 1997 NBA draft, selected by the Detroit Pistons.

He eventually graduated from Kamiakin and attended the University of Kansas, where he graduated in 1997 with a degree in education.

While playing NCAA 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.

Pollard was selected 19th overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons, 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 for Christian Laettner, but Pollard never suited up for a game with them and was waived almost a month later.

Pollard was traded to the Sacramento Kings, 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, often starting at power forward when Chris Webber was injured.

Pollard spent the 2002–03 NBA season plagued by injuries.

After that season, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers.

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.

Pollard's contract with the Pacers expired following the 2005–06 season.

On August 18, 2006, Pollard signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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

While with the Sacramento Kings, Pollard received the nickname "Samurai Scot".

For every season, except his first, Pollard appeared in the NBA Playoffs including in the 2007 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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

The Cavaliers lost the 2007 NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs 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.

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

He visited various locales and often gave tours and information about the place he was visiting.

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.

Pollard was known across the NBA for his peculiar hairstyles, which included a Mohawk, a single pony tail, a man bun, and a bald head.

On April 12, 2008, during a game against the Atlanta Hawks, Pollard filled in for color commentator Tom Heinsohn on CSN New England's game telecast.

Pollard, who was out for the season after left ankle surgery, has color analyst experience with the Sacramento Kings and WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs.

Pollard joined NBA TV in 2009.

In 2016, Pollard appeared as a contestant in Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, the 32nd season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor.

The competition was filmed in Kaoh Rong, Cambodia during the spring of 2015 and premiered on February 17, 2016.

He placed 8th, being the 9th person voted off.

Pollard was one of six children in a devout Latter-Day Saint family, but Pollard never embraced the religion.

His father, Pearl Pollard, played basketball at the University of Utah.

For three years, he played high school basketball at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego before moving to Kennewick, Washington to play for Kamiakin High School most of his senior year.