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

But as a coach I wanted to keep things from being too complicated.

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

Back then every small town had a gym, and if itseated more than 2,000 then we'd be interested in playing in it.

Bob Brannum was my body guard on the court. He was 6'-6 and built like a bulldog.

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.

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.