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Hoosiers great Bob Knight dead, his legacy polarizing

Bob Knight passed away at home/ESPN

Bobby Knight dead at 83. 

Blog King, Mass Appeal

BLOOMINGTON — Robert Montgomery Knight, the legendary Indiana Hoosiers coach who intimidated referees and bullied players, has migrated to that big basketball court in the sky. Bobby kicked the bucket on Wednesday. He was 83. The surly geezer was encircled by loved ones when he croaked inside his home in Bloomington, Indiana. Quondam Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski (aka Coach K), who played for Bobby at Army, sent his condolences. “We lost one of the greatest coaches in the history of basketball today,” Coach K said. “Clearly, he was one of a kind, Coach Knight recruited me, mentored me, and had a profound impact on my career and in my life. This is a tremendous loss for our sport and our family is deeply saddened by his passing.” Tom Abernethy, a starter on Bobby’s undefeated 1975-1976 national championship team, said he changed the game. “I think Coach Knight may have influenced the game more defensively than offensively,” he recounted.

Bobby, if you recall, gave no f*cks when it came to his coaching style. He routinely threw temper tantrums on the sideline. He tossed a chair at a referee. One time, during practice, Bobby went to the restroom, defecated on some toilet paper, then showed it to his players before telling ’em they’re “playing like sh*t.” Bobby was also caught on camera choking one of his players — Neil Reid.

Telling you dawg, Bobby meant business. He enforced discipline. He did things his way, unlike today’s effeminate wusses. Social media reaction was wild. One commenter wrote, “🙏Loved watching him coach, also reminded me of my junior high coach. He would throw chairs and poke you with his finger, but we won the trophy🏆.” Another chimed in with, “That poor chair😂.” A third person added, “They should’ve fired Knight for choking Neil Reed in practice. Poor Neil Reed died in 2012😭😭😭😭😭.”

Watch Bobby throw a chair and choke a player.

Share your thoughts.

This Post Has 29 Comments

  1. No matter what you may have thought of his behavior at times there was no doubt the man could coach. A True Legend that will long be remembered.

  2. Bobby Knight is an utter sack of shit. I wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire. The first duty any coach has isn’t to win games. It’s to be an ethical caretaker of the young men or women that have been entrusted to your care. When you choke, hit, kick, humiliate or bully your players you have utterly betrayed that duty, The fact that Knight seems to have no comprehension of this mindset tells anyone all they should need to know about this “great” coach.

  3. Love him or hate him he was a helluva coach. Like everyone he had his flaws but there wasn’t a phony bone In his body. Blunt and honest. People always knew where they stood with him. That’s lacking these days.

  4. They should have saved that chair. It would probably be worth a lot of money.

  5. Blog King, when a man grabs your son by the throat, please tell us it’s ok. Please tell us it’s part of being a man.

  6. He was a mental case and should never have been allowed to coach. Goodbye 👋

  7. Trump voters love Bobby Knight. I assure you they miss the “good ole days” when coaches acted like this.

  8. Greatest basketball mind, ever.
    The 1987 National Championship team had a grand total of 14 years in the NBA. He did more with less than any other coach in history.
    As far as how tough he was with the players, please; go through boot camp and tell me how tough he was.
    RIP coach, you will be missed. 😢

  9. Had a teacher in jr high who took me by the throat an slammed me up against the wall very hard. I do wish I had that to relive. He’d at least have a broken nose if I could live that over. But at 13-14 years old I was totally scared of him at that point.

  10. Truth is, knight was a dick. He told you like it was and if you didn’t like it that’s your problem. It took a certain type of kid to play for him cause you had to be able to take it. Knight was a dick, but he didn’t deserve to be fired. The video shows nothing, this is no different than the way parents grab kids when you curse as a kid. This kid complained because he didn’t get playing time and wasn’t good enough to play there. Then after that, Knight’s last straw was grabbing a kids wrist and telling him how to speak to adults. And that kid told on him too, this was just a preview of how soft the young generation has become. And I’m 20 years old, its not hard to see.

  11. @bartome: If you think that’s uncalled for you’re soft and have no place in men’s sports. Male sports are violent, this is insane. My high school fb coaches were having a good day if that’s all they did to you, no one complained, just respected them. Not controversial, not front page news, please man the fuck up. This is a MAN’S game, not a classroom. Please, everyone stfu.

  12. That player is a soft ass bitch… Its all tough love and making you a better player and a better man in the long run i see nothing wrong with what he did… Bet if he never said anything he might have been somewhat of a decent player in the nba.

  13. if bob knight had done that to me I would have kicked him in the nards

  14. Knight assaulted a San Juan policeman in a gymnasium during a practice session of the U.S. basketball team for the 1979 Pan American Games.

    Knight, coaching the U.S. team, argued with a policeman about use of the gym, which was occupied by the Brazilian team at the time, and later punched the policeman.

    Knight was charged with assault and summoned to appear before a judge in Puerto Rico, but left the island before a trial was held. He refused to return and Indiana officials rejected Puerto Rican requests that he be extradited to face the misdemeanor charge.

  15. He was loved by all those boys he made them into men, he was more than just a coach to them! He taught them how to win and be great at it! He also gave them the drive to succeed in school, those young men all graduated and went on to be success stories and all thanx to Bobby Knight, he will be missed by many, May he rest in peace ❤

  16. People want to say RIP Bob Knight I say bullshit he was an asshole he put hands on players threw chairs at refs for what because he loved winning??? Scum

  17. Bobby Knight was from a different time that kids today wouldn’t understand. Clearly, he couldn’t be a coach in today’s ultra woke environment. He demanded the player subjugate his needs to the needs of the team. He had a good guard come play for him at Army but asked him to score less because in Knight’s opinion, other players were better natural scorers. That guard was Mike Krzyzewski.

  18. If there is a Hell, then right now Knight is down there losing to Purdue, every day for eternity.

  19. I have just become aware of this entire event. I am not even a basketball fan. I am a football fan. Football and baseball were my sports of choice in high school and college. So, I have no “dog in this fight.” HOWEVER, I am also, not blind!
    Knight hit this young man’s throat with FORCE! Yes, it was only one hand…but, a man can put a lot of force into a one handed grip! The kid didn’t even see it coming! Or…wasn’t expecting it. Either way, this was 100% assault. Any way you slice it. Disgusting…..

  20. I didn’t care for his style of coaching, but he was a great coach nonetheless. My late husband loved him. RIP, Coach Knight.

  21. Robert Montgomery Knight will not be picking up a sitting chair, and throwing a sitting chair across a basketball court anymore ✝️.

  22. Bob Knight and John Thompson, the HOF coach at Georgetown, came to be good friends and coached against each other twice (1-1). In one of those games, Big John walked down the sideline and lit into one of his players with profanity that may have even made The General blush. As he passed by Knight, Thompson muttered under his breath “Bet you never heard THAT combination (of words) before!”

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