Bob Knight was one of the most talented and respected American basketball coaches. He was a ruthless coach who had no interest in being your friend, he just wanted to win.

He coached Isiah Thomas when the latter was in college in Indiana. In a recent interview, the Detroit Pistons legend recalls a sour encounter between his brothers and Bob Knight.

Isiah Thomas recalls the sour encounter 

In an “X” post of “SHOWTIME Basketball”, Isiah Thomas recalled one incident when things got very heated between his brothers and the legendary coach.

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Matt Barnes (former NBA player and co-host on the podcast) started the conversation by saying, “Legend has it that when Bob Knight showed up… The whole neighborhood showed up.”

The former NBA veteran was talking about when Bob Knight had come to Isiah Thomas’s high school to scout and possibly recruit the young Isiah. Isiah Thomas responded, “The whole neighborhood showed and then, there was a fight almost that broke out too.”

The 76ers legend smiled as he further explained, “So my two older brothers were also there. And my second oldest brother, Gregory, so he asked Coach Knight the question. He asked, “If Junior (Isiah) was to go down to Indiana (for college), we know the Klan (KKK) is right there, and if something was to go down, who’s going to look out for Junior?””

Isiah Thomas then said that Bob Knight gave a very “slick answer”. Isiah Thomas says, “He (Knight) is like “if we are winning, then they’re going to look out. And if we lose you know…” everybody kinda laughed it off. But my brother didn’t like the answer.”

Isiah Thomas then explained what his brother said next, ““Hey man, I don’t like that. What do you mean they’re going to take care of him? We take care of Junior.” So, the conversation quickly got heated. Coach Knight stood up and my brother was like, “We can take this outside.”” The legendary coach responded in a legendary way as Isiah Thomas stated, “Coach Knight stood up, took off his jacket and started rolling up his sleeves but everyone was like ‘Nah Nah Nah Nah!'”

Isiah Thomas then confessed that he was glad that they didn’t go outside. The 76ers legend laughed as he quipped that Bob Knight “wouldn’t have made it back in.”

Bob Knight and Isiah Thomas’s relationship

Isiah Thomas did end up going to Indiana University of Bloomington, where he got coached by the ruthless Bob Knight.

Bob Knight and Isiah Thomas had many heated confrontations during his time there, and Thomas even got kicked out of practice a bunch of times. However, Isiah Thomas mentioned in an interview later in his life how he was glad that Bob Knight took that approach and didn’t try to be his friend.

Bob Knight was a legendary basketball coach with 4 NCAA titles under his belt: 1 as a player and 3 as a coach. He won his second NCAA title with Isiah Thomas in 1981.

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What are your thoughts on Isiah Thomas’ story of his brothers’ close encounter with Bob Knight? Comment below!