Watch Bobby Knight recall beating Michael Jordan with a 29-point lead at halftime in the 1984 Olympic gold medal game

Yesterday, the world received some sad news as legendary college basketball coach passed away Bob Knight transmitted to the television broadcast.

The Orrville, Ohio, native and Division I’s sixth-winningest basketball coach died at home after a long battle with the disease. He is 83 years old.

His family issued the following statement:

“It is with heavy hearts that we learn that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington in the presence of his family.

We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requests a private family gathering which we are honored to have.

“We will continue to celebrate his life and remember him, today and forever, as our beloved husband, father, coach and friend.”

While he had many incredible accomplishments during his decades-long career, including coaching the last team to go undefeated and win the 1976 National Championship, there are a few icons that will always stand out as Bob Nye Typical examples: Indiana University, Internet sweaters, and an exaggerated, fiery personality.

I mean, I would say the average sports fan thinks about him throwing a chair across the field in protest almost every week…

For a basketball coach, one of the greatest honors you can receive is being selected as head coach of the Olympic men’s team, a position Knight held in 1984.

In typical Bobby Knight fashion, he made some waves by cutting future NBA Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing and John Stockton early in the process, but he was still able to assemble A great squad, ensuring the team revolves around a 21-year-old. His name is Michael Jordan.

At the time, Knight was quoted by the Associated Press as saying how incredible he thought Michael Jordan was.

“If we were to name the three or four best athletes I’ve ever seen play basketball, he (Jordan) would be one of them. I think he’s the best athlete I’ve ever seen play basketball, bar none.

In terms of competitiveness, ability, skill and athleticism, he’s the best athlete, he’s one of the best competitors, he’s one of the most skilled players. To me, that makes him the best basketball player I’ve ever seen. “

That’s obviously high praise, but he didn’t let those feelings stop him from setting the tone for the locker room by lashing out when he felt it was necessary.

He talked about this on stage, and while I couldn’t find details about the specific incident, Knight started telling the story of how Jordan dealt with Knight’s antics at halftime of the gold medal game against Spain, which was all Jordan and Knight A unique classic all told in a great story.

This is what he said…

“In 1984, I walked into the locker room after the first half of our gold medal game against Spain. We were up 29 points and we were already playing good basketball.

Michael Jordan played 20 minutes and played 12 minutes. He had 11 rebounds, 9 assists and 19 points in 12 minutes. In my opinion, no one can compare to Michael Jordan except for Jack Nicholas and Babe Ruth. “Michael Jordan is the best ever at what he does, by a long shot.”

He went on to talk about how he believed his team’s best three minutes of play had to be the first minute after half-time, but considering they were absolutely slaughtering Spain, he didn’t know what to say to that person. I mean, up 29 at halftime? How could it be better than this?

That’s when he came up with a plan that he believed would get all players thinking about how to improve themselves: Challenge Michael Jordan.

“I would get in trouble with Jordan a little bit and everyone else would be like ‘God, if he’s upset with Jordan, how does he feel about me?'” …

I walked up to Jordan with my stat sheet in my hand, looked down at him, and said, “Mike, when the hell are you going to set a screen? When you’re in the game and we have 4 guys out there setting the screen, the screen leaves you open.” , the screen leaves the opponent open, but I haven’t seen you set the screen yet.

Mike, the only way I can get all 5 people to screen is to get you out of the game. Now when are you going to set up the screen? All you’ve done so far, dammit, is rebound, pass, and score, and you need to cover Mike! ”

Now Jordan, you all saw the smile, I mean the greatest smile in the world. He didn’t exactly smile in this situation, but he looked up at me, smiled a little, and said, “Coach, didn’t I see you say last week that I was the fastest player you had?” d ever Have you been here?

I said, “Mike, what on earth does this have to do with your screening?”

“Coach, I think I set them up faster than you can see them.”

I mean, come on, if that’s not the best answer you can give to Knight’s fake tirade, I don’t know what is.

Sure, he exaggerated Jordan’s numbers, and Team USA actually led by 31 points at halftime, according to RealGM , but the point stands and proves that Bob Knight can find anything to get his players excited about stuff, and Michael Jordan is literally someone that everyone knows. He said yes.

As you might expect, Team USA finished with a 96-65 victory to take home the gold medal.

Rest in peace the great Bob Knight. For all his shortcomings, there is no doubt that he is one of the greatest sports leaders of all time and we can all learn something from him that we carry with us throughout our lives.