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Living the dream.(My Turn)
Basketball is a game, but it has defined my life. My successes and failures have revolved around basketball. Right now, I'd have to say things are pretty good. I am the head coach of the Manhattanville College men's basketball team. You might ask, "What's a former NBA first-round draft pick doing coaching a small Division III college in the suburbs of New York City?" For me, it's living "the dream" that I've worked toward ever since I began my coaching career.
In 25 years as a coach, I've learned that it's pretty easy to set up a screen play or choose the right defense. The bigger challenge is making a personal connection to your players, the kind of connection you might have with your spouse or child.
I won plenty as a player. I won a title at Rice High School in New York City, the NIT championship at Marquette University and the NBA crown with the Knicks in 1973. I was blessed with great ability and extraordinary teammates, but I didn't realize how important coaching is until I tried it myself.
After I retired from the NBA in 1977, I thought it would be easy to land a good coaching job and carry a team to victory. That couldn't have been further from the truth. I did have some success, leading the New York Stars of the Women's Professional Basketball League to a championship in 1979-80. But the league folded shortly thereafter, and I realized the hard way that an NBA coaching gig might not come so easily.
There was another problem. Even though I wanted to coach my players in the right direction, my own life was headed the wrong way. I started using cocaine in the 1970s as a player, which was hardly unusual in those days. But as time moved on, my addiction grew stronger and more destructive. No matter how hard I tried to kick it completely, I kept getting caught up in the same cycle of abuse. That's the thing about drugs--you can always come up ...
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