Nets coach Jacque Vaughn reflects on Bob Knight's passing
Former Indiana coach Bob Knight, left, and one of his players at Indiana, Isiah Thomas, laugh during a taping of Billy Packer's "Survive and Advance" television show Sunday, March 15, 2009, in Las Vegas. Bob Knight, the brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball has died. He was 83. Knight's family made the announcement on social media Wednesday evening, Nov. 1, 2023. Credit: AP/Isaac Brekken
CHICAGO — Bob Knight’s death this week was a loss felt across and beyond the college basketball world. It also resonated with Nets coach Jacque Vaughn.
Knight, 83, won 902 games for Army, Indiana and Texas Tech along with three national championships. He tried to recruit Vaughn when he was a highly touted point guard at Muir High School in Pasadena, California.
“I remember him coming into my home and my mom said, ‘Make yourself comfortable,’ ” Vaughn said beore Friday’s game. “And he [then] put his feet on my mom’s coffee table and made himself comfortable.”
Vaughn chose Kansas, but his path crossed again with Knight in college. Kansas and Indiana faced each other three times during Vaughn’s career, with Kansas winning twice.
Vaughn’s favorite memory was a 1993 game in which his Jayhawks defeated Indiana, 86-83, in overtime. Vaughn, a freshman, made the game-winning three-pointer. Instead of talking about the shot on Friday, he praised how great that Hoosiers team was and saluted Knight as a great coach.
“Unbelievable torch-carrier for basketball, coaching and teaching young men how to become better than the environment that they came from,” Vaughn said.
Claxton update
Nic Claxton missed his fourth consecutive game Friday with a sprained left ankle and there still is no timetable on how soon he’ll return.Unlike Cam Johnson, who will miss at least another week with a strained calf, the Nets haven’t given many details on Claxton’s progress. Vaughn said there’s no hurdles for him to clear as he’s continuing to progress with the Nets’ performance team.
Vaughn didn’t rule him out for Saturday vs. the Celtics but hinted he is unlikely to play because he didn’t participate in Friday's shootaround.
“If that leads you to any direction to seeing if Nic’s going to be available tomorrow? Probably not,” Vaughn said.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
