Knight: NBA 'raped' college basketball

TOM MAHON, Daily News Staff Writer mahont@phillynews.com Posted: Wednesday, March 26, 2014, 3:01 AM

BOBBY KNIGHT apparently doesn't realize that people actually listen to what he says.

Yesterday, the former college basketball coach railed against the NBA in an appearance on ESPN radio's "Mike and Mike" show.

And he used a poor choice of words when asked about Duke's Jabari Parker and Kansas' Andew Wiggins, freshmen who are headed to the NBA despite subpar performances in the NCAA Tournament.

"If I were involved with the NBA I wouldn't want a 19-year-old or a 20-year-old kid, to bring into all the travel and all the problems that exist in the NBA," Knight said. "I would want a much more mature kid. I would want a kid that maybe I've been watching on another team and now he's 21, 22 years old instead of 18 or 19, and I might trade for that kid. On top of it all, the NBA does a tremendous, gigantic disservice to college basketball. It's as though they've raped college basketball, in my opinion."

Knight is entitled to that opinion. But he wasn't wise to use the R-word.

An ESPN spokesman issued the following damage-control statement yesterday: "We spoke with him. ESPN regrets the use of the word."

ESPN? What about Knight?

He should know better. He has, after all, been down this politically incorrect path before.

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Knight: NBA 'raped' college basketball