A native of Connecticut, he and his family moved to the Bywood section of Delaware County when he was a senior, and he graduated from Upper Darby High School, where he played basketball. After playing basketball at Saint Joseph's University, he coached for three years at St. James High in Chester and three years at Mt. Pleasant High in Wilmington, Delaware. He returned to Saint Joseph's as head basketball coach in 1955 and in 11 seasons had a 234-72 record and took 10 of his teams to postseason tournaments. He became head coach and general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association in 1966, then left after four seasons to coach the Buffalo Braves. In 1976-77, he became head coach of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, and the team defeated the 76ers for the NBA championship in his first season. He resigned as coach in Portland after 10 seasons, then coached the Indiana Pacers for three years. He retired with 864 coaching victories in the NBA. A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is an NBA television analyst. Enshrined as Coach on May 11, 1992.