Prologue -- Part one -- My beginnings -- Learning the Hamotzi, playing in the Baker, and UP -- Not such a big man on campus, then Far-East of the NBA -- Anointed by the Dipper -- A stranger in paradise -- Black man out -- In these changing times -- Part two -- Looking back -- Civil rights and un-civil wrongs -- The brothers change the games and their names -- Forever didn't last long -- Part three -- That's what I like about the south -- Detroit redux with a few major surprises -- "Benny and the Jets" -- The not-so-fortunate fall -- How Bob Ferry showed me the way to build a championship team -- The beginning of the end, and the blood on my back -- Part four -- Abracadabra, and the NBA flies high -- Same game, new rules -- Against the wind -- The NBA then and now -- Welcome to my America

"Ray Scott was part of the early wave of Black NBA players like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who literally changed how the game of professional basketball is played-leading to the tremendously popular financial blockbuster the NBA is today. Scott was a celebrated 6'9" forward/center after being chosen by the Detroit Pistons as the #4 pick of the 1961 NBA draft, and then again after he was named head coach of the Pistons in October 1972, winning Coach of the Year in the spring of 1974-the first black man ever to capture that honor. His story is a story of quiet persistence, hard work, and, most of all, respect. He credits the mentorship of NBA player and coach Earl Lloyd, and talks about fellow Philly native Wilt Chamberlain and friends Muhammad Ali and Aretha Franklin, among many others. Ray has lived through one of the most turbulent times in our nation's history, especially the time of assassinations of so many Black leaders at the end of the 1960s. Through it all, his voice remains quiet and measured, transcending all the sorrows with his steadiness and positive attitude. This is his story, told in collaboration with the great basketball writer, former college player and CBA coach Charley Rosen"--