The new 30 for 30 documentary The Last Days Of Knight about hall of fame college basketball coach Bob Knight’s tenure at the University of Indiana was screened in New York City tonight. The film will be aired on the new ESPN+ app when it launches on April 12.
The Last Days Of Knight dives into when Knight first stepped foot on Indiana’s campus, his notorious personality, and temper issues that resulted in his firing from the school in 2000. After Indiana’s national championship win in 1976, Knight started to display a more angrier side of him. He would throw chairs in practices and games, constantly verbally abuse reporters and the most notorious incident coming in 1997 when he choked Neil Reid, one of his star players, in practice.
The Reid choking incident launched an investigation by CNN reporter and narrarator of The Last Days Of Knight, Robert Abbott. This also came at a time when top recruits at Indiana were trasferring due to them not wanting to play for Knight due to his aggressive personality.
Neil came forward in 2000 and admitted that Knight did choke him after Abbott was able to obtain footage from an undisclosed source. Indiana swept the incident under the rug by deciding to implement a “no tolerance” policy towards Knight in which Knight would be fired if he was involved in another physical altercation with someone. That would come fast as a student on Indiana’s campus was trying to speak to him. Knight immediately grabbed the student by the arm and that caused him to be fired.
Outrage from Indiana students followed as they destroyed light poles and flooded campus. They felt that Knight didn’t deserved to be fired despite all of the incidents over the years. Knight still has hate towards the university as he said that he hopes all of the school officials that were there at the time are dead now.
I asked Abbott if he felt that Knight embraced the villain role at the beginning of his tenure at Indiana and how that affected Neil Reed.
“There was less joy in the late 80s and into the 90s by Knight and his players,” said Abbott. “I was asked to find out why three players left Indiana. There was little joy in playing for Knight. A number of the players would say that they didn’t have a relationship with him off the court. They dreaded going to practice. One player said they looked at a clock in class so time would go by slow so practice wouldn’t arrive fast.”
“Through all of the interviews I did with Neil, he said something that struck with me,” said Abbott. “He said “I don’t know what’s worse, having your dream never come true or having your dream come true and it turning into a nightmare.” “That tells the story of what it was for Neil. He wanted to come play for Knight at Indiana ever since he was little and it didn’t work out. He didn’t let the incident define who he was though.”
Neil passed away in 2012 due to heart issues. Knight soon became head coach at Texas Tech from 2001 up until his retirement in 2008.
The Last Days Of Knight did a phenomenal job of analyzing Knights’s legacy along with his success and downfall at Indiana. Basketball fans are in for a surprise on April 12.