Happy 37th Anniversary to Bob Knight and All You Chair-Throwers Out There
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It was the 23rd day of February in 1985, and there was a lot of moaning and groaning in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers weren't very good at the time, and had just lost ugly home games back-to-back to Ohio State and Illinois.
The program was a bit of a mess at the time.
The Illinois game on Jan. 21 was especially ugly, with the Hoosiers scoring just 50 points in a 66-50 loss. Sophomore star Steve Alford scored just six points on 3-of-14 shooting, and Indiana coach Bob Knight was angry the entire game.
Two days later, it was more of the same. Indiana was trailing Purdue and Knight was going back and forth between yelling at his players and yelling at the referees. And then, finally, he blew.
After a foul call, Purdue's Steve Reid went to the free throw line, but before he could shoot, an angry Knight grabbed a chair and slung it across the court. He was immediately ejected by the referees and headed off to the locker room, showered in cheers by the Indiana faithful.
He would be suspended for a game by the Big Ten, but the craziness of the event has lived on in infamy. Mention Bob Knight's name, and the chair is usually the first thing that comes up, not the three national championships or coaching awards or even his firing.
Indiana would lose the game 72-63 and Alford was just 3-for-12 in the loss. Indiana would finish the season 19-14, with a 7-11 Big Ten record. The only highlight was making a run in the NIT, winning four straight games before losing to UCLA in the finals in New York.
Sports Illustrated did a great magazine article about that day and that game — and that chair-throw.
Here's the long-form Sports Illustrated story in the magazine — you remember what those are, right? — by L. Jon Wortheim as part of SI's series on 1985, the best year in sports. To read the full story, CLICK HERE
