Bob Knight has issued a statement about the investigation and so forth,
which does talk about his temper with regards to his players but not the rest of
his life, which seems to have become an equally big part of the problem:
BLOOMINGTON, IN--Press Release
May 13, 2000
For Immediate Distribution
RELEASE
May 13, 2000Statement from Indiana University Head
Basketball Coach Bob Knight: I was asked not to comment on the
pending matter involving me, and I
intend to continue to be one person honoring the request. However, I do
feel I should address something that was not a factor in the investigated
incident: my temper. Practically all of us have some problem to deal with
in life. For some, it's
something as simple as meeting people or talking in front of people. My
temper problem is a lot more troublesome than those, and it's something
I've
had to deal with for as long as I can remember. There are times when my
passion for basketball led me into confrontations
that I could have handled a lot better. I've always been too
confrontational, especially when I know I'm right. I know as well as
anybody
does: I have to develop a more diplomatic approach. I'm not very good at
just forgetting something and going on, and I'm truly sorry about that. I
am working on it, and I have a helper. I've mentioned before that my wife
has posted signs around our house: "The horse is dead. Get off it." As
hard
as that is for me to do, I think I'm getting better at it because of her and
those signs.
When I get on a kid or a team in practice, I always wind up more upset
with
myself than with anyone else. I can, and invariably do, make it up to kids,
but I can't do
that with myself. I can, and I will,try a little harder. I'm as proud as a man
could be of the basketball program we have been able
to build over these last 29 years, prouder of the great kids who have
made
up that program and what they have gone on to do and be than I am of
the
games and the championships they have won. Intense, demand and
temper have
been a three-braided rope for me, and I really believe the first two have
been a major reason for the success of our kids and teams. It's my job
and
my determination to temper that third braid. I'll leave it up to our kids to
judge if I'm improving, just as it is my job to keep improving them.