Someone who knew Bob Knight reflects on his life

I saw the news last night around six o'clock or so and even for somebody that never, never covered, never interviewed Bob Knight, I know people who like have deep relationships with him, Mike Krzyzewski, and I know what Bob Knight meant to them. So I felt immediately felt for people like Mike Krzyzewski and others.

Jay Billis had a relationship with him and Jay Billis has made the mistake of giving me his phone number a long time ago and he joins us on the Adam Gold show. I know this touched you as well for a lot of reasons. So kind of give us what was going through your mind, the memories of Bob Knight when you found out the news yesterday.

Yeah, just the finality of it. Adam, you know, I knew I saw Coach Knight in December and you know, he was suffering through dementia. He didn't really know I was with Ted Kichel and Randy Whitman, two of his former Indiana players, and he didn't have any idea who we were. And for those who have family members or friends who have suffered through, you know, similar things, it's heart wrenching.

So, you know, you knew things were never going to be the same. But, you know, when he passed yesterday in the news game, you know, there's a finality of it. And then you sort of the memories flood back and the meaning that I think he had as a not only a person, but as a great American sportsman. You know, he's one of the great coaches in American sports history and in basketball. You know, there was no bigger figure, especially in the 70s and 80s when he won titles in 76, 81, 87. He was the most prominent coach in the game globally, not just in college basketball, NBA, you name it. And, you know, NBA people consulted him on the draft. I mean, he was an innovator on the floor with things that he did. And, you know, he was a brilliant, brilliant coach and bigger than life. And, you know, for those who were critical of him, his flaws were bigger than life as well.

Jay Billis is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. We know what kind of an influence he had on Mike Krzyzewski, the person. And I know for a good chunk of Coach K's career at Duke, there was a falling out. They really did not have contact. But what was what were Knight's influences on Coach K as a coach?

Oh, I think it's profound. I mean, as you know, Coach K played for night at at Army and and they they were very close when he was at Army and very close for many, many years after that. They did have a very complicated relationship after probably about 19, I'd say, 1991 or 92, probably 92. There were times and, you know, Coach K should really be the one to talk about this more so than me.

But I do have some knowledge of it. And and honestly, it affected my relationship with night. You know, I love Coach K and will do anything for him. And I did not appreciate and I knew I didn't appreciate it the way he treated him at times. And there were there were things that there were small perceived slights that Coach Knight allowed to become big deals and made a big deal out of it. And there was really nothing that Coach K could do to fix it.

And and there were times when it was unhealthy, honestly. And later on last several years, you know, Knight knew I disapproved of that and others did as former players. And it but it was a it was something between the two of them. But but it was all on Coach Knight's side. And but I do know this, that Knight loved Coach K. The fact that he had a difficult time. Coach had a difficult time. He couldn't say, I'm sorry.

And that was one of his flaws. And but but he knew and Coach K was very meaningful to him. And and I know the reverse is true that that Coach Knight meant the world to Coach K. And I think as the as maybe as Coach K grew and maybe Bob as certainly when Coach Knight was maybe out of coaching there, they kind of maybe some of that went away. How meaningful again, I'm asking you to talk for for Coach K, because understandably, he is not making himself available to talk about it.

I'm sure this has really impacted him in a huge way. Did you notice anything about coach that might be like he kind of soft, not not Coach Knight, but Coach K, that he sort of made peace with it and was able to kind of deal with it better? I do believe that that he made peace with it, that it was the way Coach Knight was. And again, I don't mean to delve into areas that that are none of my business, but I do know that it was really hurtful.

And and I'll just sort of leave it at that. It just wasn't right. And and we all knew it. You know, Coach Knight's family knew it.

His his friends do it. We all knew it. And there was just it was there was nothing anybody could do about it. And there was nothing Coach K could do about it.

It was all on one side. And I'm not saying that that everybody did everything perfectly. But Coach Knight, I'm not saying that. But I can tell you that that from my feet, it wasn't right.

And and but, you know, that said, there's genuine love and affection there. And I know Coach Knight felt because he told me we never talked about some of the difficulties, but he knew I didn't approve of the way he handled it. And and it became a sticking point between him and me toward the end. But he just was I don't know whether incapable is the right word. He just had a block there that he couldn't he couldn't get over. And and look, it sounds like it would be a psychiatrist's dream to try to figure it out.

And I'm certainly not qualified to do so. But, you know, when I can tell you this, that I wish for Coach K that Coach Knight had been for him all those years. What Coach K has been to all of us. And and that didn't happen, but it did. It did happen for a lot of years at the beginning, up until the early 90s. And then there was reconnections and all that stuff and things smoothed over.

But there was a lot lot there to unpack. Jay Bilas is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show talking about Bob Knight, who passed away yesterday at the age of 83. Knight as a coach, Bob Knight as a coach. I know his methods probably don't work. I'd probably have we don't even need that don't work in terms of going over the line, which he has obviously done over the course of his career. But what about him as a basketball coach is absolutely translatable to today's game.

It's translatable to any any any sport, anytime, anywhere. He was a brilliant mind strategically to motivate, inspire preparation, detail, you name it. He was as skilled as any coach I've ever seen in basketball. The most skilled at teaching, at getting in and out of teaching situations and practice without stopping play and making it into a speaking clinic.

Just remarkable. His ability to break down opponents, break down films, see the intricacies of the game and openings that others, frankly, didn't see and couldn't see without him pointed out first. Just an amazing you know, he used to say, Coach, how you say about Doc Councilman, the great swimming coach at Indiana, that that councilman could coach any sport and be great. And I think that's equally true of Bob Knight, that he could have coached any sport and been just as great. He chose basketball. But, you know, I watched football games with him and watched him dissect a football game like he should have been on, you know, on the NFL today. You know, he and baseball, you name it. He just had an amazing mind in every regard. But but especially for basketball. Yeah, he was a good friend of Bill Parcells.

I know that. So, yeah, these these coaches, they could they could coach any sport. But before I let you go, Jane, I appreciate your time because you knew Coach Knight, the person. So we talk about the complicated relationship he had with Mike Krzyzewski. But there was a kindness about him as an individual that a lot of people don't know. I'm guessing you saw that.

I did. There was a such an interesting contradiction with Coach Knight. He was the only friend I've ever had that I felt like I had to explain to people. And I actually wrote an article about it 20 years ago where I just I decided I was going to stop doing that. You know, I felt the good far outweighed the bad. I acknowledged the negatives and and I made no excuse or rationalization for it. There was no justifying some of the things he said or did. But at the same time, he had tremendous capacity for kindness and thoughtfulness. I think I detailed an article I wrote about him that, you know, when his when his coach, Fred Taylor, was at the end of his life. Coach Knight used to sneak into the hospital night just to hold his hand. And he didn't want anybody to know. And he paid bills and expenses for a very prominent basketball person that has fallen on hard times.

Didn't want anybody to know. He landed Turner when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident in the early 1980s. I think it was 1981. He made he called Red Auerbach and asked Red to draft Turner with one of their late draft picks. And and Auerbach did it.

He raised a ton of money for Landon Turner. But at the same time, he had a he had a capacity within him to to to do and say things that were incredibly hurtful. But the kindness, in my view, eclipsed all of that.

It's just, you know, most people don't have that wild of a swing. And, you know, your point, like Bob Knight could coach today without, I think, without a problem, because the things that he did back in the day were a problem then. OK, the overwhelming majority of what he did was good and positive. It's just, you know, it's kind of like his relationship with the media. You know, most of the questions he answered, he did just fine. But he had a he had a quick trigger temper on things. And and he couldn't get past a few of them. It was just kind of like I said before, like he's bigger than life.

And so were some of his flaws. Jay Bilas, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for for giving me 10 or 12 minutes and we'll talk to you again. Basketball season's here. I'm sure you know that, though, starts starts Monday. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you.