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Another side of Coach Knight
Posted: Wednesday April 19, 2000 06:00 PM
It is unfashionable to say nice things about Bob Knight. You are either put down as an "apologist" -- or worse, suspected of being some sort of deluded Hoosier cultist who is in his thrall. But, I'm sorry, there are nice things to say about Coach Knight, and there are many respected and sensitive people who would also speak to that point. Knight is dead-on honest, loyal, generous, respectful of the tried-and-true; he is committed to the principle that college athletes should also be real college students and he cares about the future of his players. No, these things don't excuse his bad behavior, but they are simply so. I had dinner with Knight and a mutual friend a few weeks ago, before the current charges that he manhandled a player were aired on CNN/SI. Knight was, as is so often the case,bright and engaging, full of good humor -- really quite wonderful company. Those who interrupted his meal to petition him for autographs were all met with grace and charm. The point of this is not just to praise Caesar as others would bury him. It is only to try and help you understand why the public Bob Knight, the coach, the one so often on display, vulgar and boorish, even mean-spirited, so utterly confounds those who know him well. It is even more confounding because I am convinced that Knight is virtually always in control. He chooses to be the ogre. Essentially, he even told me so after the recent allegations were made public. "You know, Frank," he said blithely, "I could have been Al McGuire." McGuire, you will recall, was everybody's favorite coach and announcer, a man who was successful and beguiling. I could have been Al McGuire. And yeah, I believe that. It would have been a piece of cake for Knight. Instead, he chose to be a man who knows that his manner and actions must bring down criticism upon himself. Why? The wisest insight I ever heard on the subject came from an elderly Indiana high school coach named Roy Bates, whom Knight had hired as an assistant. Knight has always venerated his elders. "Bobby has got so much," Coach Bates told me -- and this was years ago. "He's achieved so much so soon, become so popular. And nobody can ever get him. He doesn't cheat. He doesn't drink. He doesn't chase women. But for some reason, he thinks he's been a bad boy, and no matter how successful he becomes, he thinks he must be punished." A short while ago, I asked Knight, point-blank, about this analysis. Usually, he responds directly to any question, with a vengeance. This time, he was evasive and uncomfortable in dismissing his old coaching friend's theory. No, none of us knows why Bob seems to feel this need to be punished. But clearly, that is part of what animates him. It is almost as if he feels he has to test the affection of those around him -- especially those he admires. He was so good a coach, so attractive a man. It would have been so natural for Knight to have been Al McGuire -- or Dean Smith or Red Auerbach or any of the other great coaches he idolizes. But, for some reason, that would have been too easy for him. Instead, he determined to show us his worst to see if we would still accept him -- to see who would stay on his team. It is easy to condemn Bob Knight. It is harder to understand why that ever had to be so. These commentaries, which appear each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, are posted weekly by CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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