Chris CrockettGreat Magic Johnson & Bobby Knight Exchange From Jackie MacMullan's book, When The Game Was Ours
January 12th 2010 14:00
A lot of you probably knew all about Larry Bird being recruited by Indiana coach, Bobby Knight, back when Bird was in high school. Bird even briefly went to Indiana but ended up leaving school before the season even started and eventually ended up at Indiana State to play his college hoop.
You might not have known that Magic Johnson was also heavily recruited by Knight as well, a couple of years after Bird. I didn't.
While reading this great book, When The Game Was Ours, by Jackie MacMullan, she brings to life the brief meeting between Bobby Knight and Magic Johnson, while Knight was visiting Magic at his high school.
On the visit, Knight was telling Magic that there would be no preferrential treatment shown to him if he came to Indiana. At the time, Magic was being offered all sorts of 'preferrential treatment' by so many colleges. This message from Knight appealed to Magic. He loved a challenge. He'd prove himself and earn his spot, if that's how Knight wanted to play it. So the two are exchanging a little small talk and everything seemed to be going really well, when all of a sudden, Knight becomes very direct with Magic. Magic and his coach were taken aback by Knight's sudden change of tone.You see, Knight, as you might expect, groveled to nobody and wasn't exactly one to beat around the bush. Indiana was an elite program. If you came to play for him, great. If not, life goes on for B-Knight! That shouldn't surprise you if you know anything about Knight. Here's the excerpt from the book, capturing the exchange.....
Knight's tone was conciliatory until he sharply asked: "So, Earvin, where the hell are you going to school?"
Johnson was silent for a moment, then conceded, "I'm not sure. I don't know about Indiana. if you started getting in my face, I'm not sure how I'd react to that."
Knight cocked his head for a moment, then stood up. The interview was over. Knight shook Fox's hand and left Lansing.
"That was it," Magic said. "I never spoke to or heard from him again."
"To tell you the truth, I regret not taking a visit. He was a tremendous coach. And just imagine if Larry had stayed and I had gone there. The two of us would have played in college together. Now that would have been something."
Johnson was silent for a moment, then conceded, "I'm not sure. I don't know about Indiana. if you started getting in my face, I'm not sure how I'd react to that."
Knight cocked his head for a moment, then stood up. The interview was over. Knight shook Fox's hand and left Lansing.
"That was it," Magic said. "I never spoke to or heard from him again."
"To tell you the truth, I regret not taking a visit. He was a tremendous coach. And just imagine if Larry had stayed and I had gone there. The two of us would have played in college together. Now that would have been something."
This book is a great read so far and I might give you all some excerpts like this as I go along, but I can't replace the real thing! Check out When The Game Was Ours, by Jackie MacMullan on Amazon.
Chuck
~TCFB~
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