I was literally fabricated over in France and born about six months after the boat landed at Ellis Island. This was the heart of the Depression. For the first 12 years of my life we lived in a terrible ghetto on the East River.

I had endured six years of frustration so I think winning it all meant more to me than most of the others on the team.

I won the city scoring championship as a senior.

We hung out on the streets, played stickball, and did all of the things that other kids did.

You have to remember that coaching wasn't sophisticated back then - you didn't have the camps, clinics and all the technical advances that are available today - so from that standpoint, playing with a cast on my arm was a fortunate event in my life.

Race wasn't an issue. My family was French, but Yorkville was a melting pot of races and cultures.

We lived in Yorkville, which is located on the East End of Manhattan. It's further east than Hell's Kitchen, and back then it was the kind of place where the roaches and cockroaches were big enough to carry away small children.