During the late 1980s, Rayful Edmond operated a violent and highly profitable drug trafficking operation in Washington D.C. He was considered equal parts brilliant, charismatic and ruthless.
Maybe that’s not the most obvious way to start a tribute to Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson, who died at the age of 78 on Monday.
Or maybe there is no better example of the power Thompson wielded and the respect he commanded not just inside college basketball, but across society itself.
Edmond never played alongside Thompson when he was a part of two NBA championship teams in Boston in the 1960s.