"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."

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

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

"The MVP award was very satisfying in terms of personal accomplishments, but the championship was the most important thing of all."

"The NBA wasn't a big deal at that time, so it wasn't really in my career plans."

"I grew up in the heart of the Depression."

"Russell joined the team in December, 1956, following the Olympics."

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

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

"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."

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

"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."

"French was my first language."