When Seattle SuperSonics associate head coach Dwane Casey enters the First Union Center in Philadelphia today for the Sonics' game against the Sixers, he will enter the arena through the back door.
Only, now, he is doing it proudly, as a coach of an elite NBA team because that's where the team bus comes into the building.
But Casey remembers a time when he had to enter buildings like this from the back door because he was forced to. And he knows the change came about because of Martin Luther King Jr.
"I think Martin Luther King has made it possible for us to do a lot of things," Casey said. "When I was growing up (In Kentucky), African Americans couldn't go into restaurants; we had to go in the back doors when I was growing up.
"And I've seen the transformation, from going in the back door to going in the front door. Having equal opportunity. And that's all you can ask for is having an opportunity. Martin Luther King and all the older civil rights leaders made those things possible. I know a lot of times people called them rabble-rousers and troublemakers, but they were trying to make noise for a cause. And that cause allowed us African Americans to play in the NBA, to coach in the NBA, to be general managers in the NBA."
Casey said he owns a record collection of every one of King's speeches.
"Sometimes, when things are going a little tough, I go back and listen to some of his speeches and listen to how hard things were for him, thinking about hard times," Casey said. "It makes me feel better just listening to him. It's almost like listening to him live.
"None of this would be possible for me if it wasn't for Martin Luther King."