Thirty years later, Bob Knight still is crass in his use of the term "rape."
USA TODAY Sports reported that ESPN issued an apology for Knight's use of the word in an interview with "Mike & Mike on Tuesday morning.
Knight didn't apologize. ESPN did.
In discussing the NBA's current "one-and-done" policy that requires high school players to attend one year of college before declaring for the NBA draft, Knight tried to hammer his point home with the use of shocking language.
"On top of it all, the NBA does a tremendous, gigantic disservice to college basketball," Knight told Mike & Mike Tuesday morning. "It's as though they've raped college basketball in my opinion."
USA TODAY Sports scolded Knight for his use of the word to describe the NBA policy because it's his second offense with it. USA TODAY Sports reminded readers of his comments in 1988 to NBC News correspondent Connie Chung.
During that interview, Knight - then coach of the Indiana Hoosiers - was asked how he handled stress and said: ''I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.''
Knight appeared to back off from the comment, saying, "'That's just an old term that you're going to use. The plane's down, so you have no control over it. I'm not talking about that, about the act of rape. Don't misinterpret me there. But what I'm talking about is, something happens to you, so you have to handle it - now.''
That is the closest Knight has come to an apology then or now. USA TODAY Sports originally the latest Knight incident Tuesday morning. It updated the report in the afternoon with the statement: "An ESPN spokesman sent along a statement this afternoon: 'We spoke with him. ESPN regrets the use of the word.' "
But because Knight apparently still has influence as a college basketball icon, he was not made to apologize.
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