Brian Scalabrine, “who won a championship with Boston in 2008,” as Boston Magazine put it, had “retired over the summer after a very serviceable 11-year NBA career,” CBS Boston wrote in January 2013, and he had “spent the last few seasons of his career seen as the ‘human victory cigar.’” Basketball-Reference lists 520 games over 11 seasons, four with the Nets, five with the Celtics and two with the Bulls, at 3.1 points a game. “He spent five seasons playing in Boston before coming to Chicago,” ESPN wrote in 2012.
“Last month, someone called in to The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show and made this claim: ‘I’d smoke Scal one-on-one. He can’t play,’” Boston Magazine reported on January 15, 2013. “Brian Scalabrine says he doesn’t typically respond to irritating fans, but this time he couldn’t resist.” “CSNNE, 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich and Scalabrine concocted ‘The Toucher & Rich One-on-One Scallenge,’” NBC Sports Boston, then CSNNE, wrote. “T&R are searching for three talented ballers in Boston to go one-on-one with the White Mamba,” CBS Boston reported on January 4, and in the end “They scoured hundreds of video submissions from ‘the best ballers in Boston’ and selected the four best challengers,” NBC Sports Boston wrote.
The games would be “played to 11 with a 10-second shot clock,” Boston Magazine wrote, noting that “the 34-year-old Scalabrine is 6-foot-9.” “It shows how delusional the public is about how good NBA players are,” he told the magazine. “I might be one of the worst in the NBA, but the normal public will still lose.” “‘The Scallenge’ took place on Jan. 17 in a closed-to-the-public setting,” NBC Sports Boston reported.
“First up was …, a Syracuse alum,” CBS Boston wrote, and Scalabrine “walked away with his first victory of the day by a score of 11-3.” In the next two games, “Neither scored a point, as Scal posted back-to-back shutouts.” The last challenger “took a 2-1 lead thanks to an early shot from downtown,” “but Scalabrine rattled off eight-straight,” and “Scal eventually came out on top 11-3, and finished the day a perfect 4-0 against his challengers.” He “easily defeated all four of his opponents … as he beat them all by a combined score of 44-6.”
“Scalabrine also took on the Toucher & Rich trio,” CBS Boston wrote; he “took on … at the same time,” in NBC Sports Boston’s words, and “Scalabrine made quick work of them 11-1.” Then he gave his opponents their due. “When you go into a game you have to realize that these guys can play,” he said.
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- Fans thought they could beat this NBA champion, so he let them try. CBS Boston (January 4, 2013): “he doesn’t think he’ll have much of a challenge against those that think they can beat the former NBA player one-on-one.” CBS Boston (January 14, 2013): “people who think they could beat Scal.” Boston Magazine: “Scalabrine, who won a championship with Boston in 2008.” 341
- His name is Brian Scalabrine. Boston Magazine (January 15, 2013): “Scalabrine, who won a championship with Boston in 2008.” 1
- In 11 NBA seasons, he averaged three points a game. Basketball-Reference, his career line: 11 seasons, 520 games, 3.1 points per game. CBS Boston: “retired over the summer after a very serviceable 11-year NBA career”; “who spent the last few seasons of his career seen as the ‘human victory cigar.’” 82
- Then a radio caller said, “I’d smoke Scal one-on-one. He can’t play.” Boston Magazine: “Last month, someone called in to The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show and made this claim: ‘I’d smoke Scal one-on-one. He can’t play.’” 1
- This time, he couldn’t resist. Boston Magazine: “Brian Scalabrine says he doesn’t typically respond to irritating fans, but this time he couldn’t resist.” 1
- In January 2013, a Boston radio show asked for challengers. CBS Boston (January 4, 2013): “T&R are searching for three talented ballers in Boston to go one-on-one with the White Mamba”; “Click here to learn how to enter.” NBC Sports Boston: “CSNNE, 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich and Scalabrine concocted ‘The Toucher & Rich One-on-One Scallenge.’” 35
- Hundreds sent in videos. The best four got a game to 11. NBC Sports Boston: “They scoured hundreds of video submissions from ‘the best ballers in Boston’ and selected the four best challengers to go one-on-one with the White Mamba.” Boston Magazine: “the games, which will be played to 11 with a 10-second shot clock.” 51
- First up, a Syracuse graduate. Scal won 11 to 3. CBS Boston: “First up was …, a Syracuse alum”; “walked away with his first victory of the day by a score of 11-3.” 2
- The next two never scored. CBS Boston: “Neither scored a point, as Scal posted back-to-back shutouts.” 2
- The last one hit a long shot and led 2 to 1. CBS Boston: “… took a 2-1 lead thanks to an early shot from downtown.” 2
- Scal scored eight straight and won 11 to 3. CBS Boston: “but Scalabrine rattled off eight-straight”; “Scal eventually came out on top 11-3, and finished the day a perfect 4-0 against his challengers.” 2
- In total, 44 to 6. CBS Boston: “easily defeated all four of his opponents … as he beat them all by a combined score of 44-6.” 2
- Then the show’s trio took him on at once. He won 11 to 1. CBS Boston: “Scalabrine also took on the Toucher & Rich trio …”; “Scalabrine made quick work of them 11-1.” NBC Sports Boston (January 24, 2013): “took on … at the same time.” 26
- Still, he said, “These guys can play.” CBS Boston: “‘When you go into a game you have to realize that these guys can play,’ Scal said of his opponents.” 2
- “I might be one of the worst in the NBA,” he said. Boston Magazine, before the games: “‘I might be one of the worst in the NBA, but the normal public will still lose,’ he said.” 1
- “But the normal public will still lose.” Boston Magazine: “… but the normal public will still lose.” He also told the magazine: “It shows how delusional the public is about how good NBA players are.” 1
Sources
- Catching Up With Former Celtics Player Brian Scalabrine (Alan Siegel, January 15, 2013) Boston Magazine
- Toucher & Rich’s ‘Scallenge’ No Challenge For Brian Scalabrine (January 22, 2013) CBS Boston
- Scalabrine Doesn’t Think ‘Scallenge’ Will Be A Contest (January 4, 2013) CBS Boston
- Toucher & Rich One-On-One Scallenge Videos (January 14, 2013) CBS Boston
- Sneak Preview: The Scallenge (January 18, 2013) NBC Sports Boston (then CSNNE)
- The Scallenge: 3-on-1 vs. The Toucher & Rich Show (January 24, 2013) NBC Sports Boston (then CSNNE)
- Report on Brian Scalabrine’s move from the Bulls to the Celtics broadcast booth (September 6, 2012) ESPN Chicago
- Brian Scalabrine career statistics Basketball-Reference
Notes
Three or four challengers: Boston Magazine (January 15, 2013) and NBC Sports Boston’s round pages say three, as CBS Boston’s call for entrants did; NBC Sports Boston’s preview (January 18) and CBS Boston’s results (January 22) say four and give four scores. The Short follows the results: four games, 44–6.
The day: Boston Magazine said on January 15 that the games were set for “Wednesday” (January 16); NBC Sports Boston says they took place on January 17. The Short says only January 2013.
The call: Boston Magazine wrote on January 15, 2013, that someone called in “last month,” so in December 2012, after he had retired over the summer (CBS Boston). The caller isn’t named in the source.
The trio: CBS Boston calls the three “the Toucher & Rich trio”; one of them is the show’s third voice rather than a co-host by title. The Short says “the show’s trio.”
Popular retellings: his best-known line, about being closer to LeBron James than a fan is to him, is quoted only second-hand, in different wordings and with different dates, and the original is a video, so it isn’t used. Clips that call him 6-foot-8 or say he won every game 11–0 aren’t followed: Boston Magazine says he “is 6-foot-9,” and two of the four games were shutouts (CBS Boston).
Brian Scalabrine is alive. Only the games’ results, reporting by Boston Magazine, CBS Boston, NBC Sports Boston and ESPN, Basketball-Reference’s statistics and his own published words are used. The four challengers and the caller are private people and are not named; the radio hosts appear only as “the Toucher & Rich trio.”
Pictures: no free photo shows the Scallenge, its gym, the radio show, its hosts or the challengers; the CBS Boston and CSNNE photos and videos are copyrighted, so none is used, and every photo of him here is from his playing years. Brian Scalabrine is shooting for the Celtics against Washington on January 12, 2008 (Keith Allison); receiving his 2008 championship ring from NBA commissioner David Stern at TD Garden on October 28, 2008 (Eric Kilby); and on the Bulls bench at Charlotte on February 10, 2012, the red-haired player in the middle (Mike Kalasnik, cropped). He is among the players, too small to recognize, at a Celtics–Warriors pregame shootaround at TD Garden on November 21, 2007 (Eric Kilby, cropped) and with the Bulls warming up at the United Center in Chicago before a 2011 Eastern Conference finals game on May 26, 2011 (Eric Kilby, cropped). TD Garden and the Zakim Bridge are seen at dusk during the NBA Finals on June 8, 2010 (Eric Kilby), and the inside of TD Garden, with its scoreboard, at a Celtics–Suns game on November 6, 2009 (Marc Choquette); neither is the Scallenge venue. The other people in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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