Bob Knight Signs Indiana Chairs For Sale, Still Won't Return To School

Bob Knight has done it again. The man is always willing to go the extra mile to poke Indiana fans right in the eye, but unwilling to move on and actually return to the university that made him famous.

On the 31st anniversary of his famous chair-throwing incident, Steiner Sports announced that it would be selling 76 limited edition Indiana folding chairs autographed by Knight for $350 each.

So he’s willing to sign memorabilia associated with Indiana but won’t actually associate with Indiana. After this latest insult, added to his decision to show up to a Purdue alumni event while spurning any invitation from Indiana, it’s clear I was correct in my assessment of Knight. The 75-year-old former Hoosier coach will never grow up.

For some reason Knight is willing to circle around Indiana like a hungry vulture but never willing to actually land on his target. Instead he just relieves himself on it from far above. Repeatedly.

It would be one thing if Knight just disassociated with everything related to his former employer, but over the years he has consistently taken shots at the school, honored its principal rival and used his association with the university to enrich himself. All of that and he didn’t even bother to show up when Indiana honored the 40th anniversary of his greatest squad, the 1976 Hoosiers who are still college basketball’s last undefeated team.

Knight was fired from Indiana in 2000 for frequently being physically and verbally abusive to subordinates and his players. There are people who still defend his actions and claim he never should have been fired. We have a word for those people: morons. He put Indiana in a terrible position with his repeated physical and verbal outbursts. The school had to let him go or likely face a litany of lawsuits in the future. Unfortunately for Bob Knight, he was not bigger than Indiana University and the school had to protect itself. How he has never gotten over that fact is still a mystery to me.

I know I accuse Knight of being a bitter old man, but sound plenty bitter myself by writing this. I get it. But I’m not bitter, I’m sad and disappointed. I’m sad that my alma mater will likely never get a chance to give Knight one last ovation or farewell. I’m sad that he’s never going to be over the fact that his own actions caused him to be fired. I’m sad that he’ll never own up to those mistakes publicly and in doing so acknowledge that he (like the rest of us) is a flawed person with regrets.

I’m fully aware that probably will never happen. Instead we’ll continue to do this dance forever. Indiana will repeatedly beg Knight to return and be honored, and Knight will continue to thumb his nose at Indiana every chance he gets. This is the reality within Hoosier Nation and it’s past time to accept that it always will be this way.

Thirty-one years after he threw that chair Bob Knight has a new favorite pastime: throwing shade at the university that employed him for 29 years.