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

My biggest win was getting the meal money bumped from $5 to $7.

Cooper was my road roommate, and also happened to be the first African American player drafted by a National Basketball Association team.

My family was poor, my father drove a cab for a living, but we felt normal because everybody else was in the same boat.

I once heard that Paul Seymour said as much as winning an NBA Championship, he'd like to see the Celtics lose a game after Auerbach brought out the cigar so he could go up to Arnold and stuff the cigar in his face.

Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful at anything you put your mind to

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.