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

We played every night. Sometimes we'd stay overnight after a game, but we'd usually drive on to our next destination.

But in fairness also to the idea of continuing success, you also have to exploit opportunities.

People have been killing because of racial differences since the time of Adam and Eve, but in this country racism has been primarily aimed at African Americans.

I grew up in the heart of the Depression.

We lived in Yorkville until 1940, at which point we moved into the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens.

That seemed to be the case with most of the teams based in the smaller towns - the fans were more rabid, and they wanted to literally kill the opposition.