12/22/24
March 10, 2003
A reason to like or respect Bob Knight? After subpar season, Knight won't accept $250,000 salary. Have you ever heard of anything like this?
posted by msacheson to basketball at 11:00 PM - 7 comments
Hopefully, the start of a trend. Is mo vaughn listening?
posted by justgary at 12:32 AM on March 11, 2003
I saw this earlier tonight and made a mental footnote to post it in the morning if nobody else had. Bobby Knight gives you exactly what he is. For all the shit he's been through, he's always been upfront and honest, like it or not, take it or leave it. This is just another proof of that. I'm a bit surprised that he did this before the Big XII tourney even started though, as if he's given up on that already as well.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:36 AM on March 11, 2003
Wow, that's a pretty impressive gesture and certainly not an example I'll be following in my job. I note from the article that he's still going to make $650,000 this year including deferred annual income (whatever that is), so he'll hardly be out on the streets panhandling. Still, seems like the actions of a pretty decent man. Are there any examples of this kind of behaviour in other sports?
posted by squealy at 03:32 AM on March 11, 2003
I think Shawn Kemp did something of this nature, returning a big chunk of signing bonus. This is a pretty impressive gesture, no matter what Knight is worth or what his motivations are. And it sends a message to his players as well, that he is seriously about doing his job to his satisfaction. I wonder though if it might have a deleterious effect on the players next year, if every time they play a crap game the news reminds them how Knight returned his money the previous year. That could get old before conference games even start.
posted by vito90 at 07:58 AM on March 11, 2003
I listened to this story on ESPN and it was made pretty clear that Knight never intended the public to hear about it. I mention this because it goes to Vito's point's about his players taking it into account and the "motivation" factor. I guess he'll have to deal with it now, but that was never intended. I have no love lost for Bob Knight and frankly, I don't think he's all that good of a coach anymore, but it's tough to question him on this under any grounds. I think he is doing this for all the right reasons, basically saying that the school shouldn't be paying him that much based on his recent performance. And justgary, forget about Mo Vaughn, someone should call Greg Vaughn! .163 batting average. $8,500,000.
posted by 86 at 10:14 AM on March 11, 2003
And justgary, forget about Mo Vaughn, someone should call Greg Vaughn! Very true. I just have a personal vendetta against mo.
posted by justgary at 08:15 PM on March 11, 2003
I think that it's pretty surprising, but not that strange. As bad of a rep as Knight has, he is one generous guy. I'm a student at IU and have a wonderful library to study in largely because of Knight diverting his shoe contract money directly to the library. He may be too hard on his players, too sarcastic with the media and too heavy-handed with the university officials, but like him or not, this university misses him for his dedication to higher learning. Sure, he made mistakes, but he is a great person. I've met him twice personally(once in high school,once at college 6 years later). Each time he made an effort to learn my name and make me feel comfortable meeting someone who his not only notorious but physically huge. Great guy. Great talker. Great coach. Not so great at dealing with stress.