In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.

The only reason is that I hadn't seen The Modern Jazz Quartet perform live and a live performance is often where the real experience of jazz takes place. I'm not familiar with the Boswell Sisters.

I love basketball, but playing basketball doesn't fully define who I am. I was always a good student, too.

Your best athletes might give basketball a try just when they think, geez, this might be something that pays off for me in the end.

But people don't know if I can teach the game. I know I can. My experience in Oklahoma was positive. It opened my eyes to how the game is played - the interaction among players, fans and media, how all that works. You have to know about the business of the game and how the actions of players and coaches affect the business. I think I have it down now.

Either because I was an athlete or because I was black - probably both - there seemed to be a clear assumption that I wouldn't be up to the work.

My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.