Indiana gets credit for having the most rabid basketball fans in the union, but Maine is a very, very active basketball state.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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