Report: Reasoning behind strained relationship between Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski revealed

In “Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski,” New York Post columnist Ian O’Connor reports the West Point reunion at the Pinehurst, North Carolina golf resort that was hosting a celebration of Knight in 2015 quickly turning ugly when Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, apparently unaware that Knight was angry over several perceived past notions, approached the legendary Indiana head coach in an attempted conversation, just to be ignored.

This is how Jim Oxley, who played basketball with Krzyzewski West Point in the 1960s remembered it.

“Mike came in and said, ‘How are you doing, Coach?’ And [Knight] barely even hesitated and continued with his story, that kind of thing,” Oxley said. “That was the start of it. That was one of many straws that broke the camel’s back. I remember Mike walking out of there saying, ‘That’s it. I’ll never do this again.’”

Here’s another rendition.

“Knight was sitting in a corner table … and Mike went over to him and got down on a knee just to see him eye to eye, and everyone else kind of continued their conversations,” said former Army player John Mikula. “Mike got up, walked away, and went over and stood outside the room and said, ‘That’s the last f–king time. That’s it … and it was a disaster.”

The two Hall of Fame coaches relationships began to waver during the 1992 Final Four, where Knight nearly ignored Krzyzewski during postgame handshake after Duke beat Knight’s Hoosiers. He went on to completely ignore Krzyzewski while passing each other during their postgame press conferences.

Knight had a letter hand-delivered to Krzyzewski that very night stating his disappointment over published reports that said Krzyzewski wanted to ‘establish an identity separate from his mentor’s.’ Knight was the one that helped Krzyzewski land the head coaching job at Duke in the first place.

“I’ve never seen Coach K hurt by anything like that,” said Krzyzewski’s longtime sports information director and current St. John’s athletic director Mike Cragg.

In 2011, Krzyzewski broke Knight’s all-time Division I record for victories with his 903rd victory. Fast forward to 2022, and he now has nearly 1,200. 

With Krzyzewski in his final year of coaching at age 75 and Knight still living in Bloomington at age 81, and with reports of declining health in recent years, time is running out for the two to mend a relationship that has been completely shattered due to outside interferences over the years.